


Ghost Finders Incorporated

by hobbit_hedgehog



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, Cryptids, Eventual Relationships, Ghosts, Humor, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, NaNoWriMo 2016, Paranormal Investigators, Testimonials, some transcript formatting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-08-29 14:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8493661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobbit_hedgehog/pseuds/hobbit_hedgehog
Summary: Sawamura Daichi wants to host a successful paranormal investigator show, but needs tangible proof of supernatural activity.  Yamaguchi Tadashi and Tsukishima Kei want their apartment to no longer be haunted, but no one will believe them when they say they have ghosts.   The rest of the team is just along for the ride.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey folks, here I am. Back at it with the oddly specific AUs. This is my NaNoWriMo 2016 novel and it's the first time I'm doing fanfic for NaNo! It kind of goes without saying, but this month is dedicated to this project. This honestly started as a joke when my roommate allihearisradiogaga asked why I hadn't written a paranormal investigators au and well.... Things got out of hand. This is going to be a little crack-y, so bear with me. This is also a "making this shit up as I go along" sort of fic, so bear with me on that front as well. The first part of chapter 1 reads like a transcript, just a heads up. I'll update when I can, my life has gotten a little hectic with my job since the holidays are rapidly approaching. As always, comments and kudos are highly appreciated. I hope you enjoy this fic!

**_[A vaguely haunting melody plays as a poorly edited title typed in a less than professional looking font PowerPoint transitions its way onto the screen. The title reads: Ghost Finders Incorporated. The haunting melody fades out and is replaced with a deep voice.]_ **

**DAICHI: [Voiceover]:** Is this where we would- _{Audio distortion}_ We are Ghost Finders Incorporated. We are a team of amateur investigators looking into supernatural phenomena. Our goal is to uncover the supernatural and find some answers to otherwise unanswerable questions.

**_[The vaguely haunting melody returns as pictures of decrepit buildings intermingle with pictures of various men in their early to mid twenties. Names appear under the pictures, identifying the team members. The melody comes to an end with the name of the producer. The camera cuts to an interior shot of a driver and passenger in the front seat of a van. The camera shakes as the van bounces along. The driver, a blond haired woman in her late twenties, asks the dark haired man in the passenger seat a question.]_ **

**SAEKO:** Is it this right here?

 **DAICHI:** Yeah, that's the one.

 **DAICHI: [Voiceover]:** My name is Sawamura Daichi. My friends and I formed this paranormal investigation team in the hopes that we could uncover some of the greatest supernatural mysteries in the area.

**_[The camera pans to the same dark haired man from the passenger seat, now standing outside an abandoned house in the middle of the woods. He looks over his shoulder at the house, then back at the camera with a raised eyebrow, unsure about something.]_ **

**CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Go ahead.

 **DAICHI:** Today we're investigating this abandoned house. Some locals have reported strange noises coming from this house at night. Police investigations have resulted in nothing unusual. Our goal today is to see if we can find something they didn't.

**_[The camera cuts to a shot of Daichi standing near some equipment. He looks up at the camera and rolls his eyes.]_ **

**DAICHI:** Breaking out the testimonial camera already, Mister Director?

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Introduce yourself to the viewers.

 **DAICHI:** _{Laughs}_ I thought I did already.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** No, no. I mean formally. Tell the viewers what your role is.

 **DAICHI:** My name is Sawamura Daichi. I'm the investigation lead and primary communicator.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** So you're the team captain, in less fancier terms?

 **DAICHI:** _{Laughs again}_ I guess that's one way to put it.

**_[The camera pans to a gray haired man crouched on the ground by the back right tire of the van. He is holding a lighter in one hand and a rolled piece of paper in the other.]_ **

**DAICHI: [Off screen]:** Suga, what the _{redacted}_ -?

**_[The gray haired man jumps slightly, hiding the lighter and the paper behind his back, looking sheepish.]_ **

**DAICHI: [Off screen}:** I told you, no smoking on the-.

**_[The image goes dark for a minute before the gray haired man, Sugawara, reappears on screen. The lighter and the paper are gone.]_ **

**KOUSHI:** My name is Sugawara Koushi. I'm the team's lead researcher and baking expert.

 **DAICHI: [Off screen]:** Suga, you can't say that on camera.

**_[Sugawara looks off camera and glares in the direction of Daichi's voice. Still scowling, Suga mumbles something about Daichi being a literal buzz kill under his breath.]_ **

**KOUSHI:** My job is to do research before we get to the job site-. Is it weird to say "job" twice in the same sentence?

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** It's fine.

 **KOUSHI:** Anyway, my job is to do research before we jump headfirst into investigations. That way we have some background information and aren't flying blind.

**_[The next shot is of a short man bent over a box of audio equipment. He is talking loudly, not to, but at a taller man with a tight bun and a goatee. The man with the bun is looking at the house with a lot of concern.]_ **

**YUU:** Seriously, I SAW Bigfoot at the supermarket the other day, Asahi. He was there and he was looking for coupons in the dumpster. One of these days, I'm gonna fight him. I just need you to come with me so I can make sure it's him.

 **ASAHI:** _{Distractedly}_ I'm sure you did. Hey, do you think we should be doing this?

 **YUU:** Asahi, my dude. This is our job, remember?

 **ASAHI:** I know, but I have a bad feeling about this.

 **DAICHI: [Off screen]:** You have a bad feeling about everything, you wuss.

**_[Asahi lets out a quiet groan and turns back to help Yuu with the audio equipment.]_ **

**CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** So, introduce yourselves.

 **YUU:** I'm Nishinoya Yuu!

 **ASAHI:** I'm Azumane Asahi.

 **YUU:** We're the team audio techs. We handle the recordings and we clean them up so we can hear what the ghosts have to say. Spooky, right? Well, I do. Asahi is mostly here to help me move equipment around.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Asahi, do you do anything else?

 **ASAHI:** Well, kind of, I guess. I don't think it really counts as my job here….

 **YUU:** He's gonna keep talking in circles. Ok viewers, here's the thing. Asahi is scary good at knowing where to go to find supernatural stuff. Like, he has a natural gift for it. It's awesome.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Asahi, have you ever seen a ghost?

 **ASAHI:** No, I haven't. Ghosts aren't real. Right?

**_[Sugawara's head briefly pops into frame. There's a grin on his face as he looks at Asahi.]_ **

**KOUSHI:** I think you might be in the wrong business if that's your opinion.

**_[Asahi jumps and lets out a small shout of surprise. Sugawara snickers and walks out of frame. The next shot is of the blond woman from before. She is standing next to the van with a bored expression.  At the sight of the camera, she lights up.]_ **

**SAEKO:** I'm Tanaka Saeko and I ain't afraid of no ghosts!

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** I might have to edit that out for copyright purposes, just so you know.

**_[Saeko makes a face at the camera and leans back against the van.]_ **

**CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** And what do you do on the team?

 **SAEKO:** I'm the token babe of the team! _{Laughs}_ I'm only kind of kidding. I'm the transport and the occasional brawn when Azumane gets too scared to be helpful.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Is that common?

 **SAEKO:** _{Suddenly serious}_ It's more common than you'd think.

**_[The camera cuts to a group of three men standing off to the side. All three have video equipment. One with neatly parted dark hair holds his hand out for the camera.]_ **

**KOUSHI: [Off screen]:** Not so fast Mr. Director. You've made us introduce ourselves. It's your turn.

 **DAICHI: [Off screen]:** Tell us a bit about yourself and your friends back there.

 **CHIKARA:** _{Sighs}_ Hi folks, I'm Ennoshita Chikara. I'm the video expert, the director and the video editor for _Ghost Finders Incorporated_.

 **KOUSHI: [Off screen]:** What an enthusiastic introduction.

**_[Chikara glares at the camera before shaking his head and gesturing back towards the other two men behind him.]_ **

**CHIKARA:** This is Kinoshita Hisashi and Narita Kazuhito. They're the camera and audio guys from the television studio and were kind enough to come with us on this test run.

**_[The two wave at the camera and give a thumbs up. The camera swings towards Daichi and zooms in on his face.]_ **

**KOUSHI: [Off screen]:** Anything else to add, Captain?

 **DAICHI:** Let's get investigating.

 **KOUSHI: [Off screen]:** Ooo, a catchphrase. I like it.

**_[The camera fades to black momentarily before switching to an interior shot. It is the front entryway of the house. The group moves as a solid unit towards the main living space. No one is speaking. The sound of footsteps echo in the otherwise silent house. They enter the main living room and the group spreads out.]_ **

**DAICHI:** _{Whispering}_ Suga, why don't you tell the audience what we’re hoping to find.

 **KOUSHI:** Why are you whispering? It's not like we're in a library.

 **DAICHI:** _{Still whispering}_ I was trying to be respectful-.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Suga's got a point. It's kind of hard for the mics to pick up what you're saying.

 **DAICHI:** _{No longer whispering}_ Alright, fine. Suga, why don't you tell the audience what we're hoping to find.

 **KOUSHI:** Today we're just looking for some regular ghosts. It's common to see a history of deaths at home in houses that have been around for a long time. Spirits with strong attachments to a particular structure may choose to haunt the place rather than leave it. The strange noises the locals heard may be a particularly restless spirit or a poltergeist.

 **ASAHI:** R-Restless spirit?

 **YUU:** Relax Asahi, nothing's gonna get you.

**_[There is a loud crashing noise and the camera jolts as the group as a collective jumps. Asahi's screams are the loudest.]_ **

**HISASHI:** [Off screen]: Sorry, that was me. I accidentally bumped an end table and knocked a vase off of it.

 **KOUSHI:** I think you just about gave Asahi a heart attack.

 **ASAHI:** Can we leave now?

 **DAICHI:** No, we're not leaving we just got here. Alright everyone, let's get set up. I want monitoring equipment placed in every room. Let's find ourselves a ghost.

**_[The footage moves in fast forward, depicting the team setting up equipment throughout the house. Asahi jumps several more times as Nishinoya scares him, resulting in Daichi scolding the pair. The footage slows once more and the words "Investigation: Day 1, Time: 23:30" appear on the screen.]_ **

**DAICHI: [Voiceover]:** We're beginning our three day long investigation today. Our main goals are to monitor the recording equipment overnight and to review the media tomorrow. If we find something, we will review the data once more and attempt to make contact.

**_[The camera pans to Nishinoya, who is bent over some audio equipment. He is turning the knobs on the sound board with an intense look of concentration on his face.]_ **

**YUU:** So we've set up cameras and audio equipment in every room in this house. The audio equipment is calibrated to pick up even the faintest of whispers, so if any spooky _{redacted}_ -.

 **DAICHI: [Off screen]:** Noya, language.

 **YUU:** _{Redacted}_ , my bad. If any spooky stuff happens, we'll be able to pick it up loud and clear.

**_[The next shot is of Sugawara, who is absently playing with a lighter while reading a well-worn book. The pages are dog-eared and the spine is bent severely.]_ **

**KOUSHI:** In folklore, mythology, and modern media such as literary fiction, a ghost (sometimes known as a specter, phantom, apparition, spirit, or haunt) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance.

**_[Sugawara takes a deep breath before continuing.]_ **

**KOUSHI:** The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of phantom armies, ghost trains, ghost ships, and even ghost animals have also been recounted.  A notion of the transcendent, supernatural, or numinous, usually involving entities like ghosts, demons, or deities, is a cultural universal. In pre-literate folk religions, these beliefs are often summarized under animism and ancestor worship. Some people believe the ghost or spirit never leaves Earth until there is no-one left to remember the one who died. Ancestor worship typically involves rites intended to prevent revenants, vengeful spirits of the dead, imagined as starving and envious of the living. Strategies for preventing revenants may either include sacrifice, i.e., giving the dead food and drink to pacify them, or magical banishment of the deceased to force them not to return.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** That's some cool stuff Suga.

 **KOUSHI:** Thanks, I pulled it off Wikipedia.

**_[Sugawara lowers the book, revealing his phone. On the screen is the Wikipedia page for Ghosts.]_ **

**CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Grade A research at its finest.

 **KOUSHI:** I think so.

**_[Sugawara pulls his phone away from the camera. Daichi shakes his head disapprovingly in the background. The screen goes black as words appear on the screen, reading "Time: 00:15". The camera cuts back to the living room. Various team members are sound asleep on various pieces of furniture. Daichi and Nishinoya are crouched over the audio equipment.  Tapes have been collected from the various rooms and are stacked next to Nishinoya.]_ **

**DAICHI:** Anything yet?

 **YUU:** No, not yet. I'm not sure there'd be anything this early-.

**_[Nishinoya pauses, eyes narrowing as he presses the headphones closer to his head.]_ **

**DAICHI:** Noya?

 **YUU:** I think I got something. From the master bedroom.

**_[There is a sudden commotion as Daichi and Nishinoya rouse everyone. Once the team is awake, they head upstairs towards the master bedroom. Daichi is in the lead with the rest of the group tagging along behind. Nishinoya is bouncing with excitement while Asahi looks ready to vomit. Once the group is in the master bedroom, they fan out. Nishinoya readies his audio equipment and gives Daichi a thumbs up. From a different camera angle, Chikara is shown to do the same with a large camera.]_ **

**DAICHI:** If there are any spirits present, we would like to invite you to interact with us. If you are here, make yourself known.

**_[Silence falls in the room. The team glances around, trying to see if any ghosts have suddenly appeared. Sugawara points his flashlight at Daichi and shrugs at the other man. Daichi shrugs in return and turns back to the empty room.]_ **

**DAICHI:** If there are any spirits present, we would like to invite you to interact with us. If you are here, make yourself known.

 **ASAHI:** _{Hopeful}_ Maybe they don't want to talk to us.

 **YUU:** Maybe we need a Ouija board?

**_[Asahi lets out a squeak of fear. Sugawara's eyes widen and he waves for Daichi's attention.]_ **

**KOUSHI:** I have an idea. Use a flashlight and yes or no questions. One click for no, two clicks for yes.

 **DAICHI:** That's not a bad idea Suga. Hand over the flashlight.

**_[Sugawara hands over the flashlight to Daichi, who turns the flashlight off and places it on the ground.]_ **

**DAICHI:** If there are any spirits present, we would like to invite you to interact with us. If you are there, use the flashlight to communicate with us. One click for yes, two clicks for no. One click is on, then off again. Are there any spirits in this room?

**_[There is a pause; everyone stares at the flashlight with bated breath. After a moment, the flashlight clicks on, off, on, then off once more. "No."]_ **

**DAICHI:** Holy _{redacted}_.

 **YUU:** Oh my god. OH MY GOD.

 **KOUSHI:** Oh good, a ghost with a sense of humor.

 **YUU:** Ask it something else!

 **ASAHI:** Or you could not. Just a suggestion.

 **DAICHI:** Spirit, are you someone who used to live in this house?

**_[The flashlight clicks on, then off once more. "Yes".]_ **

**DAICHI:** Alright, now we're getting somewhere. Spirit, are you friendly?

**_[The flashlight remains off for a moment before clicking on and off twice. "No".]_ **

**KAZUHITO: [Off screen]:** I have a bad feeling about this.

 **DAICHI:** Um, spirit? Are you mad that we've trespassed into your home?

**_[The flashlight clicks once. "Yes".]_ **

**DAICHI:** _{With hesitation}_ Spirit, are you planning on hurting us?

**_[The flashlight clicks once. "Yes". The room descends into chaos. The overhead lights start flickering violently as furniture overturns. There is a thumping noise as Hisashi faints. Asahi is first out the door with Chikara, Daichi, and Kazuhito close on his heels. Daichi is screaming for Saeko to start the van. Nishinoya and Suga have clung to each other and are still screaming when-.]_ **

"Daichi, I think I've seen enough," a curt, but calm voice interjected over the sound of screaming.

The video paused, the picture now a blur on a television screen. The television itself sat on a cart facing two people, Daichi and a dark haired woman seated behind a desk. The two kept their eyes fixated on the screen, neither sure what to say.

"No one was actually hurt," Daichi said with a nervous chuckle once the silence was too much to handle.

The dark haired woman merely hummed in response and they lapsed back into silence. Daichi fidgeted nervously as the woman pursed her lips, gathering her thoughts. "So Kiyoko, what do you think?" Daichi asked, hopeful that Kiyoko would at minimum humor him until they could get some better editing done.

Kiyoko remained quiet for a moment, her eyes still locked on the paused, blurred image of Nishinoya wrapped around Suga, screaming hysterically at a seemingly empty room. After a moment, she spoke up, "Do you want my opinion as a producer, an audience member, or your friend?"

"Audience member, then producer, then friend," Daichi replied in defeat.

"Alright, fair enough," Kiyoko said. She took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes under her glasses before beginning. "As an audience member, I was entertained up until the point where Azumane started screaming."

"That early? That was only five minutes in," Daichi joked weakly. Kiyoko gave him a disapproving scowl; she was not amused. "He has a heart of glass, cut him some slack."

"Screaming gets old after the first time," Kiyoko countered.

"Fair enough," Daichi sighed. "Continue."

"As a producer, you guys lost me when Sugawara openly had a lighter and a joint on camera," Kiyoko continued. She leaned forward and fixed Daichi with a severe look, "Let me reiterate that. On. Camera."

"I told him to not bring any, uh, illicit material during shootings," Daichi muttered. "I've even confiscated it from him before. But honestly, I don't know where he hides that stuff. He keeps it squirreled away."

"I can't allow that on television during the time slot your episodes would theoretically have," Kiyoko said, ignoring Daichi and his excuses. "Families with children who aren't in school watch during that time slot and we, during the daytime hours, are a family entertainment channel."

"What about switching our spot with-?" Daichi began only to falter at the withering glare Kiyoko sent him.

" _But, Fuck It_ stays where it is, Daichi," Kiyoko snapped. "There is absolutely no way anyone would let that run during daytime hours. Myself included."

"I'll talk to Suga about his on air behavior again," Daichi sighed in defeat. He leaned back in his chair and ran broad hand through his cropped hair. "Anything else wrong with it?" Daichi asked after a moment, already knowing what Kiyoko's follow up criticism would be.

Kiyoko let out a drawn out sigh of her own before leaning forward to observe Daichi over the rim of her glasses. "Also speaking as a producer," she began slowly, "I need to ask. Why are you doing this?" Daichi let out a groan of frustration and Kiyoko said, "No, I'm serious. You were one of our best writers, Daichi. Why are you so bent on getting this pet project of yours up and running? I know that _But, Fuck It_ was a little low brow for you, but how is a fake ghost hunting show any better?"

"Kiyoko, I told you why I want to do this," Daichi said. "I've always wanted to do a show like this."

"So then why not be a writer for one of the many that already exist, Daichi?" Kiyoko pressed. "If you really need it, I can be a reference for you if you submit your resume to one of those shows. It's not like you believe in this stuff, right?" When Daichi didn't immediately respond, Kiyoko gave him a look of mild disbelief. "Daichi," she groaned.

"I do I little," Daichi admitted. "Believe in ghosts and the like. But that's only part of the reason why I'm doing this. I just wanted to do something different. If I had had to write another episode of _But, Fuck It_ in which the Three Stooges go off script and end up in the hospital, I would have lost my shit, Kiyoko. This is my way of doing something new. I'm taking a professional risk by doing this, I know, but I think the payoff is too good to ignore. And if we happen to find some ghosts along the way, then great. Consider it a bonus."

Kiyoko regarded Daichi silently for another moment before sighing and reaching for the DVD player. She stopped the DVD and hit eject, removing the disc and placing it back inside the plastic case that had been abandoned on the desk earlier.

"As it stands right now," Kiyoko said, "I can't show this to the executives."

Daichi panicked a bit, "That's just a rough edit, we can do better."

Kiyoko held up a hand and Daichi fell silent. Daichi hung his head in embarrassment and defeat, but Kiyoko wasn't done. "As I was saying," she continued, "I can't show this to the executives now, I'd be laughed at. It's a sloppy edit, sure, but that's the least of your worries. There's a lot that needs to happen here for your show to get off the ground. Take it back to the drawing board, get some new footage, edit the hell out of it and bring it back to me. The basics are there, but it needs some polishing. If I were you, I'd add some more interactions with the team. Think testimonials, those are always fun."

Daichi lifted his head, hopeful once more. Kiyoko gave him a small smile and said, "As your friend, I do think that your show has potential. You're a smart man, you'll figure something out."

"Thank you Kiyoko," Daichi replied. "That means a lot."

"Take however much time you need to get the project to a respectable state," Kiyoko said as she handed the DVD back to Daichi. "I'd like to see a more polished product within the next few months, but I also know that might not be a reasonable time frame. We can work out the details at a later time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend."

With that, Kiyoko stood up and left the room, leaving Daichi alone in her office. Daichi turned the DVD over in his hands, frowning slightly. Daichi knew that their initial filming had been sloppy, but where was he supposed to get better footage than that? Daichi huffed quietly before packing the DVD back into his messenger bag and leaving Kiyoko's office. The outside hallway of the television studio was lined with posters of their various, most designed by the in house graphic designer Yachi Hitoka. Daichi smiled fondly at the posters for his past, successful projects. His nostalgic moment was ruined, however, when he came face to face with the _But, Fuck It_ poster, it's bright, garish colors burning Daichi's retinas slightly.

"Hey, if it isn't Sawamura!" an all too familiar voice called from further down the hall, causing Daichi to cringe.

"Hey, hey, hey, Daichi!" another voice, equally grating on Daichi's nerves, chimed in.

Daichi turned towards the source of the voices, finding Kuroo Tetsurou and Bokuto Koutarou standing at the end of the hallway. He gave them a weak smile and a wave, hoping that would placate the duo, but today was not Daichi's lucky day. The two raced forward and more or less tackled Daichi into the nearest wall. They wrapped their arms around him in a bone crushing hug. Daichi squirmed under the weight of the two taller men. It wasn't that Daichi didn't like the duo, they were some of the nicest people Daichi had ever worked with. But when you stuck the pair in a room with their costar Terushima Yuji, things tended to stray towards ugly fast.

"Daichi, we haven't seen you in forever!" Bokuto exclaimed. "How have you been, man?"

"Busy," Daichi responded, wanting this conversation to end before-.

"We heard that you dropped off the writing team for _But, Fuck It_ ," Kuroo said. "What's up with that?"

That.

"Yeah, well, sometimes you've got to part ways with projects," Daichi said with a noncommittal shrug.

"Did they pull you for a new show?" Bokuto asked, tilting his head in a very owl-like manner.

Try as he might to avoid it, Daichi felt his face heat up in mild embarrassment. "Something like that," he muttered. "I just got out a meeting with Kiyoko about it."

"Oh? How'd that go?" Kuroo asked.

"Not great, it still needs some work," Daichi admitted, hoping that Kuroo wouldn't ask any other questions.

"What kind of show is it gonna be?" Bokuto asked Daichi, pressing into the writer's personal space more.

Daichi froze. Daichi knew that there was no such thing as a "No judgment" zone when it came to Bokuto and Kuroo. Did he really want to tell them that he was working on a ghost hunting show? More importantly, did he want to tell them he was working on a ghost hunting show that had been almost flat out rejected?

By some miracle, Kuroo had noticed Daichi's obvious discomfort and decided to intervene. "Well, whatever it is, we can't wait to see the final product," Kuroo said with a slap to Daichi's shoulder. Ignoring Daichi's wince, Kuroo continued, "Well, we gotta go. We have a meeting of our own today. See you around Sawamura. Let's meet up for drinks sometime."

Kuroo turned on his heel and all but dragged Bokuto down the hall to the executive's office. Once the pair were out of sight, Daichi released the breath he wasn't aware he had been holding in, his shoulders relaxing for the first time in minutes. That had been a close one. Daichi made a mental note to avoid the studio for the next several months and made his way outside. Once he reached the parking lot, he pulled out his cell phone and sent a quick text to Asahi, Suga and Nishinoya.

[Group Text To: Asahi, Noya, Suga]: meet up at the usual place in 30 min, need to talk re: show

Less than a minute later, Daichi got a response.

[From: Suga]: What's the finally verdict Cap?

[From: Noya]: did we get the green light???

[Group Text To: Asahi, Noya, Suga]: will have details for u @ the coffee shop

[From: Asahi]: Daichi you can't do that to me and my anxiety

Daichi frowned at his phone; he didn't want to have this conversation through text messages. He unlocked his bike from the bike rack and typed back a quick response.

[Group Text To: Asahi, Noya, Suga]: ok ok we didn't get the green light but the show's not dead in the water, will explain @ the coffee shop

Once he received confirmation that the trio would meet him in half an hour, Daichi buckled his bike helmet into place and started pedaling towards the coffee shop. Hit The Grounds Running was a hole in the wall coffee shop that had been the team's go to coffee shop since their undergraduate days and had hosted many a late night writing sessions when Daichi worked on But, Fuck It. Hit The Grounds Running was run by a fierce looking man with dyed blond hair and piercings who all the workers called "Coach". Daichi had never learned the man's real name, but he seemed to like Daichi and the team well enough whenever they came in, as long as they were on their best behavior. The shop itself was manned by some of the most introverted hipsters Daichi had ever met. The usual cashier was a lanky boy with freckles and a perpetual nervous face that rivaled Asahi's while the two baristas were blond, quiet, and were hard pressed to ever crack a smile. Daichi knew little about them other than the fact that they had been working there since their freshman year at the local college. When Daichi arrived, the shop was mostly empty, and the usual cashier was leaning against the counter, a textbook hidden just behind the register. He looked up when the bell above the door chimed.

"Hey there!" the cashier greeted Daichi, his smile wide. "The usual?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Daichi said as he approached the counter. "Thanks, uh, Tadashi."

The cashier, Tadashi, grinned wider and grabbed a cup. He quickly wrote something on the cup and pushed it towards the blond barista with the glasses. He rang up Daichi's order and Daichi handed Tadashi the money before dropping a few coins into the change jar. Tadashi thanked Daichi and Daichi made his way to the other side of the counter to wait for his drink. The blond with the glasses, who Daichi thought was named Kei, was pushing Daichi's drink towards him when the shop's door opened. Suga stepped into the shop and waved at Daichi before making his way over to the counter to order. Daichi took his drink over to a table by the windows to wait. Suga joined him a few minutes later, dropping into his seat with an exhausted look on his face. Within seconds, Suga had face planted onto the table top, a low groan coming from the general direction of his throat.

  
"Rough night?" Daichi asked before taking a sip of his drink.

  
"Late night delivery jobs suck," Suga groaned. "They're all for drunk college students who don't tip well. Well, except for the one that tipped me with a bong hit." At that, Suga lifted his head and made finger guns in the direction of Kei, who nodded at Suga in acknowledgement before returning to his low conversation with Tadashi.

  
"You know, you probably shouldn't be doing illegal things on the job," Daichi admonished, trying to keep his tone conversational rather than nagging and failing miserably.

  
"Thanks dad, I'll keep that in mind," Suga grouched as the door opened a third time, signaling the arrival of Asahi and Nishinoya.

"So, we didn't make the cut huh?" Nishinoya began as he dropped into the seat next to Suga.

"Kind of," Daichi said while Asahi took the last spot.

"Did you tell her we almost died for that footage?" Suga asked.

"What happened?" Asahi pressed.

With a sigh, Daichi leaned forward so his elbows rested on the table. "So," he began, "our first edit was rough. Like, really rough. High school beginner film student rough. It's not television ready at the slightest and that includes behavioral issues that happened on camera that are absolutely inappropriate for daytime television." Daichi gave Suga a sideways glance and Suga gave him a "Who, me?" look in return. Daichi continued, "But Kiyoko does see the potential in the show. She wants us to keep working on it, rework some things, get some new footage, edit it a bit better. If Kiyoko likes what we come up with, then she'll pass it along to the execs."

"Oh, is that all?" Asahi grouched, unusually snarky.

"I know, it's a lot to do," Daichi conceded. "But she's giving us another chance. She may not believe in this stuff like we do, but she's willing to look past that for us."

"God bless her," Nishinoya said reverently.

"Ok, question," Suga interjected. "Where are we going to get new footage from? What we got was a once in a lifetime sort of thing. Do you really think we're going to get any other footage of actual ghost activity? It's not like that sort of thing happens every day."

"I know it seems like a long shot," Daichi said. "We just need to keep our eyes peeled for anything that can be even remotely considered supernatural. I mean, how hard can that be?"

"Very," Suga countered. "It took us forever to even get any information about the last location. It's not like a new case is just going to drop into our laps."

"Excuse me?" a new voice chimed in.

The group turned in unison to see Tadashi standing a few feet back from the table.

"Sorry, do you guys need the table?" Asahi asked with a nervous fidget.

"No, it's not that," Tadashi said. "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation and I thought-."

"Seriously Yamaguchi?" Kei called from behind the counter.

"Yes Tsukki, seriously," Tadashi called back. Turning back to the group, Tadashi continued, "A friend of mine—Ok, Tsukki—and I have had some weird things happen in our apartment building lately. Like, strange sounds late at night, things randomly moving to places they shouldn't be and the like. I don't know if it's actually ghost activity and stuff, but it might be what you're looking for."

The group turned to look at each other, various looks of hope and disbelief on their faces. "What do you think team," Daichi asked. "Want to take it?" After a moment of thought, Suga and Noya nodded yes while Asahi shook his head no. Satisfied, Daichi turned back to Tadashi. "We'll take it."

Tadashi gave Daichi a wide grin and grabbed Daichi's hand, squeezing it between his own. "Thank you so much! Tsukki and I are almost done with our shifts, so we can talk more in a bit. Thank you so much!"

"We should be thanking you," Daichi said. "You're the one doing us a favor."

Still smiling, Tadashi turned and made his way back to the counter, apologizing to Kei as he went. With a smile of his own, Daichi turned to the rest of the group, "Looks like we have a case."

Suga and Nishinoya gave Daichi a thumbs up while Asahi banged his forehead against the table.

"Great," came the mumbled reply. "That's just great."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team discusses their options

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks. I had planned on having this up earlier today, but let's face it, today was a bad day. If anyone ever needs to talk, you're more than welcome to drop me a line on my tumblr humandisasterbuckybarnes. My inbox is always open and I'm here for you.
> 
> Onto happier things, I am overwhelmed by the amount of support this fic has already received. This is my first time attempting a novel length fanfic and the support from you the readers makes it all so worth it. I can never thank you all enough for your support. You all are amazing. Without further ado, here's chapter 2!

"Come on Saeko," Ryuu whined from the other side of the door. "Why won't you do me this solid and tell them that I can do a séance?"

"Because while you're the best baby brother in the world and I love you dearly," Saeko began, "you can't do a séance."

There was a thudding sound—Ryuu probably knocking his head against the door, if Saeko had to guess—before Ryuu begged, "Please, sis? I really want to be on the show."

"Ryuu, there is an easy way to be a part of the show," Saeko groaned at her brother. "Just get in my damn van when I go to pick up the boys. Seriously, Daichi won't say no to having another body on the team. You can help with equipment hauling and the like."

"I wanna do something cool though," Ryuu insisted. "Like, I wanna earn my place on the team."

"And you wanna do that by faking a séance in front of a bunch of assholes who actually believe in this stuff?"

"They don't need to know it's fake."

"No," Saeko responded, finally throwing the door open to glare at her brother.

Ryuu did his best to puppy dog eye his way to victory over his sister. "Pretty please?" he asked. "I've got a cool special effects rig I can set up, no one would ever know it's fake besides the two of us."

"You do it my way, or not at all," Saeko told him with all the finality in her tone that she could muster. 

There was a tense moment as the siblings glared at each other, neither one wanting to break eye contact and admit defeat. At long last, Ryuu hung his head, conceding victory to his sister. Saeko let out a cheer and wrapped an arm around Ryuu's neck, locking him in place as she noogied his shaved head.

"Hey, quit it!" Ryuu snapped as he tried to wriggle out of his sister's grip.

"Not a chance bro," Saeko crowed. "I'm so excited to bring you along for the ride! You're gonna love the guys, you and Yuu are gonna give Asahi an aneurism. It'll be great!"

Ryuu grumbled and finally shoved his sister off of him. She staggered back a bit, the smile never leaving her face. "So when do you meet up with them next?" Ryuu asked.

"We're supposed to be meeting up tonight," Saeko said. "Daichi, the unofficial official team leader, had a meeting with one of the producers at the studio today, so we're gonna hear if we got green lit or not. My guess is that we probably didn't because Daichi would have said something by now. Unless he's waiting to surprise us."

"Maybe he didn't want to have the conversation through a group text?" Ryuu supplied.

"Probably," Saeko agreed. "At this point, we just need to wait for the go ahead to pick everyone up."

"How long do you think that'll take?" Ryuu asked.

"No idea little brother," Saeko admitted. "We just gotta be patient. I'm sure Daichi will get back to me soon."

As if on cue, Saeko's phone vibrated in the pocket of her oversized sweatshirt. She fished the phone out and unlocked it, quickly scanning the message.

"What's it say?" Ryuu asked.

"It's from Daichi," Saeko replied. "Says he's got a meeting place and some news."

***

Several hours later across town, Daichi pushed open the door to his apartment building and stepped out onto the sidewalk. The cool April evening air chilled Daichi; it was cold enough that a jacket was necessary, but warm enough that a heavy winter coat would be overkill. With some grumbling, Daichi shoved his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders against the cool breeze. When they had parted ways with Tadashi and Kei several hours ago, Asahi, Suga, and Noya had agreed to meet outside of Daichi's apartment before meeting Saeko and Chikara at a nearby library. Daichi still hadn't told Saeko and Chikara about his meeting with Kiyoko, but he also knew that they had probably guessed the outcome already. After meeting at the library, they would theoretically go to Tadashi and Kei's apartment building to begin their preliminary investigations. Daichi made a mental list of everything that would need to happen, including getting verbal and written consent from Tadashi and Kei to appear on camera. Luckily he kept participation agreement forms in his bag at all times.

Daichi's train of thought was interrupted by a high pitched honking sound and Suga calling, "Hey Daichi." Looking up, Daichi was greeted by Suga and his sunshine-filled smile and found himself smiling in return. He waved and watched as Suga parked his scooter off to the side. Suga pulled the cotton candy pink helmet off his head and Daichi's heart stuttered a little. Daichi had known Suga for years and while there had always been undercurrents of something there, neither had acted on it. Part of Daichi wished that they would, but at the same time, Daichi was happy as they were. Maybe someday they would, but for now it was fine.

"Sorry I'm late," Suga apologized as he stopped next to Daichi. "The usual delivery guy got into an accident earlier and they needed me to come in for a bit. I had to finish up one last delivery before I came here."

"You're fine," Daichi replied. "We're still waiting on Asahi and Nishinoya. Were your bosses okay with you doing a partial shift?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Suga said. "My shift was pretty slow after the initial rush died down. That and the other late night guy showed up to take over."

The two lapsed into comfortable silence for a few minutes while they waited for Asahi and Nishinoya. Groups of people passed the pair without a second glance and Daichi found himself at ease.

"Hey Daichi," Suga said after a minute.

"Yeah Suga?" Daichi asked.

"Do you think we're gonna find anything when we get to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima's place today?" Suga asked.

"I hope so," Daichi replied. "Otherwise, we're back to the drawing board."

"We could always go back to the haunted house," Suga pointed out. Daichi snorted and covered his face with his palm. Suga let out a snicker of his own and shoved his hands into his pockets before continuing, "We'd just have to ask the spirit if we could come inside this time."

"Yeah, sure, okay," Daichi said as Asahi and Nishinoya ran up, hands linked. "It's about time you two showed up," Daichi called.

"Sorry," Asahi mumbled. "We lost track of the time."

"I was about to say that we would have come looking for you, but I'm worried that we would have walked in on something," Suga teased.

Asahi flushed a bright red and hid his face in his scarf while Noya shot back, "Don't give us any crap Suga. I've walked in on you in more compromising situations than I've ever wanted to. Besides, you were also running late, we saw you drive by on your scooter about five minutes ago."

Suga waved off Noya's defensive tirade with a lazy wave of his hand, which caused Noya to retaliate by sticking his tongue out at Suga. Daichi rolled his eyes, his expression fond, but exasperated. He glanced at his watch and cursed slightly; they really were running late.

"Alright, let's get a move on," Daichi said, starting down the sidewalk as he talked. "Saeko and Chikara are waiting for us. And I want to get to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima's apartment sooner rather than later."

A chorus of "Aye aye Captain" sounded behind Daichi before there was a pattering of footsteps, his friends rushing to catch up with Daichi as he made his way towards the library. The trio quickly fell in step with Daichi and he felt a swelling of pride in his chest as he thought to himself, 'Wow, we actually look like a real team of professionals right about now.' This of course lasted all of two minutes, at which point Suga made fun of Asahi and Noya for holding hands again, Asahi let out a high pitched squeak of embarrassment which attracted the attention of random passersby and Noya loudly commented on Suga's lack of love life. The last comment resulted in a very offended Suga letting out a high pitched squeak of his own, drawing even more attention to the group. All of this lead Daichi to mimic Asahi by hiding his face in his hands. They were a team, yes. A team of professionals? Well, they'd work on it.

***

By the time the quartet arrived at the library, an ancient looking public building that the team frequented, Saeko and Chikara were seated at a large table in a back corner, tucked in next to the teen paranormal romance section. Seated next to Saeko was a man with a shaved head who was fidgeting with excitement and loudly talking at Chikara rather than to him. Chikara, to his own credit, was smiling politely and sincerely, nodding along to the other man's conversation and making comments when appropriate. Saeko was beaming at the two men, her eyes flitting back and forth between the two. Daichi could see some resemblance between Saeko and the man with the shaved head and came to the conclusion that he must be Saeko's brother. She had mentioned briefly in passing that she had a brother when they had first met. Looking up from the mostly one sided conversation, Saeko spotted Daichi and the others and waved them over to the table. Daichi nodded and gestured for the others to follow him as he began to weave through the other tables back towards the table.

"Guys, this is my baby brother Ryuu," Saeko said once they reached the table. "I wanted to bring him along to show him the ropes."

"Tanaka Ryuunosuke," the man with the shaved head said, holding his hand out to Daichi.

"Sawamura Daichi, nice to meet you," Daichi replied. "This is Sugawara Koushi, Azumane Asahi, and Nishinoya Yuu."

"Nice to meet you," Suga said with a wave while Asahi nodded.

"Likewise," Ryuu said with a smile before turning to Noya. "Dude, your hair is sick."

"Thanks man!" Noya exclaimed. "Your lack of hair is pretty sick too."

Ryuu ran a hand over his buzz cut, "Dude, that's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, thank you."

"I knew they'd get along," Saeko whispered to Chikara.

"That's what I was afraid of," Chikara whispered back.

"Alright, now that introductions are out of the way," Daichi began as he slid into the booth next to Chikara, "let's get down to business. Do you guys want the good news or the bad news first?"

"Bad news," Saeko said at the same time Chikara said, "Good news." They looked at each other briefly before Saeko said, "Good news." and Chikara said, "Bad news."

"Alright, bad news it is then," Daichi sighed. "So, the bad news is that we didn't get green lit today." There was a groan of dissatisfaction and Daichi held his hand up to call for silence. Once the table was silent, he continued, "According to Kiyoko our first edit was rough."

There was an offended gasp from Chikara and Daichi shot him a look. Dissatisfied, Chikara crossed his arms and grumbled under his breath about how his editing was just fine, thank you.

With a sigh, Daichi continued as if Chikara hadn't interrupted, "It's not television ready at this point. But Kiyoko does see the potential in the show. She wants us to keep working on it, rework some things, get some new footage, edit it a bit better. She says that we have a few months to work something out. If Kiyoko likes what we come up with, then she'll pass it along to the execs and see if we can't get a contract for a season."

"So we just rework what we have and we go from there, what's the problem?" Chikara asked. 

"Do you want the laundry list that Kiyoko gave me?" Daichi snapped. "Because at the top of the list was Suga getting ready to smoke a joint on camera, followed quickly by the ten minute scream track supplied by our glass-hearted giant over there." Asahi and Suga at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed. Daichi was grateful for that much at least.

"It's not like we have very many options," Chikara pointed out. "I mean, I can rework the edits I had, make something slightly more polished."

"Kiyoko wants new footage though, that's the thing," Daichi explained. "She doesn't want our old footage, she wants something fresh."

"And where are we supposed to get new footage of an actual haunting?" Chikara argued. "I don't know about you, but I think it's a miracle we even managed to get footage what we did on camera."

"I was just getting to that," Daichi said, "if you'll let me." Chikara sat back with a "continue" gesture and Daichi ran a hand through his short hair. "When we were sitting in Hit the Grounds Running today discussing our options, one of the baristas approached us with a solution. His name is Yamaguchi Tadashi, real nice kid, college student, lives with his…. Friend? Roommate? Boyfriend? I think they might be boyfriends, but I'm digressing. He told us that he thinks his apartment is haunted. They hear weird things at night, real bump in the night type stuff and things will randomly move spots from one side of the apartment to the other. Other people in the apartment building have also reported hearing and seeing weird things lately. Tadashi wants us to come check it out."

"Ok, and what if it's nothing?" Saeko chimed in. "What if it's someone in the apartment building just fucking with everyone?"

"Then we move on and try to find another project," Daichi said with determination. "We will find something, and we will get this show green lit and off the ground."

"I've already suggested that we go back to the haunted house if the Yamaguchi case is a bust," Suga added. "I mean, I was mostly joking when I suggested it, but if things don't work out, we can always try there again."

"That's not a bad idea," Chikara murmured. "I mean, we already know what's in there and we know what to do to not get furniture thrown at us this time."

"You guys had furniture thrown at you?" Ryuu asked, shock evident on his face.

"Yeah, I had to run in and grab Kinoshita," Saeko said. "You know, considering that those three," she pointed at Daichi, Asahi and Chikara, "left him passed out on the floor, and those two," she pointed at Suga and Noya, "were too busy screaming and clinging to each other to do anything."

"To be fair," Suga countered, "it is kinda hard to think straight when a previously empty room starts flickering a flashlight and then lobs furniture at your head."

"By the time I got in there, the furniture was overturned, sure, but nothing was moving. You two were just having a breakdown," Saeko pointed out. "I never actually saw any paranormal activity."

"You didn't?" Ryuu asked.

"Nah, I was hanging out in the van," Saeko admitted. "I wasn't about to spend the night in an abandoned house. There could have been rats in there."

"Anyway," Daichi's voice cut in above the rest of the group. "Yes, revisiting the abandoned house is an option. It's an option I'd rather not deal with again, but it is an option should we find ourselves desperate enough. As it stands right now, I think the Yamaguchi case would be our best move going forward. We're supposed to be meeting with him soon to look over his apartment. If we find something of interest, then I want to get cameras and audio equipment in there so we can begin investigating as soon as possible. We don't want to lose anything."

"Do you want me to call Kinoshita and Narita?" Chikara asked.

"Not yet, I want to see if this case is worth it," Daichi said. "I don't want to have to ask Kiyoko to pull them off of other projects to work with us if we end up with the same results as last time."

"I'm sure they'd do it anyway, but you do have a point," Chikara said.

"Keep them on standby," Daichi compromised.

"Ok, next question," Chikara said. "Are they expecting us to be like the Ghostbusters and get rid of the problem? Because, you know, we can't do that. Like, at all."

Daichi and Suga exchanged a quick, surprised look before Daichi replied, "We…. Honestly hadn't thought about that."

"So these guys have no idea that we're just doing this for research and notoriety, not because we think we can banish ghosts back to the Netherworld?" Chikara asked The table fell quiet; no one really had an answer for Chikara, at least, not one that would have a satisfactory answer. Chikara groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"We can be upfront with them about who we are and what we do when we get there," Daichi reasoned. "We'll just tell them that we're a research team, not a ghost fighting team. That way, any responsibility to get rid of the ghost is taken off of us. If we need to placate them, we can tell them that we can find a ghost fighting expert and they'll take care of it."

"Sure, let me get Danny Phantom on the phone and have him come right on over," Chikara grumbled. When his comment was met with confused looks, Chikara's face flushed. "You know, Danny Phantom?" he asked. "The cartoon character? Who's half ghost? Conveniently fights ghosts too? Sucks them into a thermos? You know what, never mind."

"Moving right along," Daichi said with a pointed look at Chikara, "I want you guys to know something. If at any point you think you want to back out of this project, you're more than welcome to. I know I'm asking a lot of you guys. This is going to be a huge time commitment, and there might not even be a good enough pay off for it. I mean, there's no guarantee that, if or when we get enough footage to make a full episode, the show will be green lit. There's no guarantee that Kiyoko will even let it clear her office to show the execs. There are a lot of what ifs at play here. If at any point you guys feel that it's in your best interest to bow out of this project, I won't hold it against you."  
Glances were exchanged between the group, but no one said anything in response. For a moment, Daichi was worried that he may have said the magic words and everyone was going to walk out on him, but to his immense surprise, Ryuu started laughing.

"That had to have been one of the most overdramatic, stereotypical, self sacrificing team leader speeches I've ever heard in my life," Ryuu choked out. "Where are the cameras? I feel like I'm in an action movie or something."

Daichi opened his mouth to defend himself, but was quickly cut off by Suga, "Daichi, he's got a point. That was oddly self depreciatory of you. Did you and Asahi switch places or something?"

"That was even a little too much for me," Asahi mumbled.

"You're over thinking things Daichi," Suga continued. "We knew that this would be a time commitment when we agreed to do this months ago. When your friend tells you, 'Hey, I want to make a paranormal investigators television show for the studio I work for', you don't exactly go into with the mindset that this is a thing you do on the weekends when you have time off from your day job. This is serious business."

"Says the guy who brought pot along to a filming session," Chikara muttered.

"It costs zero yen to mind your own damn business Ennoshita," Suga replied, the smile on his face indicating that they edged dangerously close into what Suga referred to as "I've got a mean fucking backhand" territory. Turning back to Daichi, Suga continued, "We've got our back. We'll take whatever weirdness this project throws at us."

"Are these guys usually this sappy, or is it because there's a newbie here?" Ryuu asked Saeko, breaking into the conversation.

"You're ruining the moment," Saeko hissed.

"It's fine, we were getting off track," Daichi said. "I do appreciate your honesty and loyalty Suga, it does mean a lot." He checked his watch and added, "We should probably head over to Yamaguchi's apartment soon. It's almost time."

The group nodded and rose from the table in unison. After pushing their chairs in and making sure that everyone had grabbed all of their things, they left the library. Saeko's van was parked just outside the library, parallel parked in such a way that Daichi worried they wouldn't be able to drive off. Saeko, however, didn't seem worried about her ability to move her car.

"It'll be fine!" Saeko called as she got into the driver's seat. "I'm an expert at getting out of tight parking spots!"

"That's a little more than tight," Asahi muttered as he watched Ryuu and Chikara climb into the van. "There's less than a foot of space on either side of this van. I don't see how anyone can maneuver a car out of there."

"Try not to think about it too much," Suga said, patting Asahi on the back as he passed him.

"It won't be as bad as you think it will be," Noya added, having already climbed inside. "Saeko's driving might be scary, but she does know how to park."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Yuu," Saeko muttered.

Asahi continued to stare at the van and made no move to climb inside. There was no way he was getting inside the van. No way in hell. He chose life.

"Asahi, get in the damn van," Daichi ordered, shoving the taller man forward. Asahi tried to squirm away, but Daichi kept a grip on Asahi's shoulder. With one final push, Daichi had pushed Asahi into range for Noya, Chikara and Suga to grab him. Asahi threw his hands out and gripped the sides of the door, resisting the team's pushing and pulling.

"Asahi, for fuck's sake," Chikara snapped. "Getting in the van's not gonna kill you."

"You're making it look like we're trying to kidnap you," Suga added. "Knock it off and get in the van."

Asahi's grip loosened a little and Daichi saw his chance. With one final shove, Daichi pushed Asahi into the van. Asahi squawked in indignation as he fell forward and on top of the others. Satisfied, Daichi climbed inside the van and pulled the door shut.

"Alright folks, buckle up," Saeko called from the driver's seat. "Next stop, Yamaguchi's apartment."

***

Tadashi wrapped his arms tight around himself, trying to stave off the cold night air. He wanted to check the time on his phone again, but he knew that checking it was useless. A watched kettle never boils he reminded himself, then immediately cringed, because who was he, his grandmother?

"You don't need to stand outside and wait for them you know," came Kei's voice from behind Tadashi. Tadashi jumped a little, spinning around to face the tall blond. Kei had a jacket tucked over one arm and had a jacket of his own on. Kei continued, "Sawamura said he'd text you when they got here."

Tadashi puffed his cheeks in annoyance before sighing, "I know that. But I was getting antsy waiting for them inside."

"So waiting outside in the cold was the best option?" Kei asked.

Tadashi felt his face go red and knew that it had nothing to do with the cold. "It's not that cold out," Tadashi grumbled.

"You're shivering," Kei pointed out. He handed the spare jacket to Tadashi before leaning against the wall. "If you're going to be out here, you might as well be warm."

"Thanks," Tadashi murmured, shrugging the jacket on. "Hey, Tsukki? Do you think they'll be able to help us?"

Kei was silent for a moment before replying, "I don't think so. I think they'll be able to tell us if the apartment is haunted, but I really don't think they'll be able to do anything else. They're paranormal investigators, not ghost hunters."

"You're probably right," Tadashi sighed.

"That being said," Kei continued, "they may be a stepping stone to actually getting help further down the road. If we don't move to a different apartment first, that is."

Tadashi's response was lost to an obnoxiously loud honk that caused both boys to jump out of their skins. They looked up to see a battered white van pull up alongside the curb, the blond woman behind the wheel waving and flashing a wide grin. Tadashi nervously waved back with a chuckle while Kei grumbled something under his breath about noise ordinances. Once the van was parked and turned off, the backdoor slid open and Asahi all but face planted onto the sidewalk.

"Oh thank god for solid ground," he groaned as he rested on all fours.

"It wasn't that bad of a ride over," Suga huffed as he climbed out of the vehicle. "It would have been easier if you hadn't been panicking the whole time."

"You saying that has no effect on my anxiety and its ability to cause me to panic over everything," Asahi replied.

"Duly noted," Suga said.

Ryuu, Saeko, Noya, and Chikara got out of the van and made their way to the back to begin unloading equipment as Daichi and Suga made their way over to Tadashi and Kei. Tadashi found himself suddenly nervous at the prospect of having strangers looking around his apartment, but it was a little late for him to back out now. He had been the one to ask them to come take a look around after all.

"Hey Tadashi, Kei," Daichi said. "Thanks again for letting us come take a look around. We really appreciate it."

"No, no, thank you for coming and taking a look," Tadashi said.

"Before we begin, we just want to go over some introductions and to talk about expectations for the job," Daichi continued, all business. "You've met Suga, Asahi, Noya, and myself. Suga's our researcher, so he'll be asking you questions about the nature of the haunting and the history of your apartment building. Asahi and Nishinoya are our audio technicians, so they'll be handling the audio equipment. Ennoshita Chikara is our video guy. He's the tired looking one with the neat hair. Tanaka Saeko is our van driver, and the guy with the shaved head is her brother Ryuu. He's tagging along with us tonight. It's kind of a training thing."

"And what do you do with the team?" Kei asked.

Before Daichi could reply, Suga cut in with a teasing, "He's our fearless leader, right Cap?"

Daichi groaned and buried his face in his hands. Tadashi and Kei exchanged amused looks.

"Yes, I am in charge here," Daichi said. "But I'm also the primary communicator. When we find paranormal activity, I'm the one to try to engage the ghost."

"Sounds fake, but okay," Kei muttered under his breath.

"Tsukki, be nice," Tadashi admonished.

"It's okay, we get that a lot," Daichi admitted. "Moving right along, though, I do want to clarify something. We're just a research team. If you're expecting us to banish the ghost, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we can't do that. We can only tell you if your apartment's haunted."

"I thought as much," Kei said, earning an annoyed frown from Tadashi.

"As long as you guys know that we're not going to catch 'em all, then we're on the same page," Chikara said. He stood next to Daichi, camera in hand.

"Pokémon?" Tadashi asked, more than a little confused.

"No, Danny Phantom," Chikara replied. Silence fell over the group as they all gave Chikara various looks of confusion and disbelief. "Never mind," Chikara grumbled. "Ennoshita Chikara, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well," Tadashi said. "I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi, and this is Tsukishima Kei."

"Looks like we've got the equipment unloaded," Daichi said. "If you guys want to give us a key to your apartment, we can get our equipment set up while you guys sign some agreement to participate forms and talk with Suga about your building."

"Yamaguchi, you stay with Sugawara and Ennoshita," Kei said. "I'll take the others upstairs and keep an eye on things up there."

"Don't trust us, Tsukishima?" Noya called from over by the equipment.

"Not particularly, no," Kei replied easily, turning and walking inside. "It'd be silly to let a bunch of strangers have free reign of your apartment, wouldn't it?"

"This kid's a smartass, I can tell," Ryuu muttered to Saeko. "I know he's gonna piss me off a bit."

"True, but he and Yamaguchi are being kind enough to let us take a look around, so be on your best behavior," Saeko whispered back as she hoisted some equipment into her arms and made to follow Kei upstairs.

Ryuu grumbled to himself as he and Noya grabbed more equipment and followed the two blonds inside. Asahi gave Daichi one last concerned look and walked after the rest. Daichi watched them go before turning back to Suga, Chikara and Tadashi.

"Are you good here?" Daichi asked.

"Yeah, we'll be fine and we'll be up in a few to get Kei's signature and stuff," Suga said.

"Alright, take as much time as you need," Daichi said. He grabbed some equipment and walked towards the apartment building. He was almost out of earshot when he heard Suga ask Tadashi if he wanted to smoke a bit to calm his nerves. Daichi tensed; it was going to be a long night.

***

As Daichi predicted, it was a long night. The clock had just barely switched to 4am, and Daichi was exhausted. He could feel the gears in his brain slow, as if molasses had been poured over them and was making the teeth stick together. There wasn't enough coffee in the world to make this situation any better. He was bored.

Tadashi had successfully wormed his way out of smoking with Suga, but Chikara had been unable to stop Suga from smoking before they rejoined the group. As a result, Suga was currently curled up on the couch sound asleep. To his credit, Suga had waited until after filming Tadashi's interview before smoking. Also before passing out on the couch, Suga had given a very brief retelling of everything Tadashi had told him. It was almost coherent. Almost. Daichi would have to go back and watch the interview later to get a bigger picture.

Kei had been reluctant to let them have free range of the apartment. He had watched them like a hawk when they set up, not helping in any way, but ready to offer critiques and complaints anytime someone did something he didn't like. Which was fairly often, in the case of Noya and Ryuu. Daichi had to restrain them more than once when they gave Kei murderous looks.

"For the future of this show, please do not murder the apartment tenant," Daichi hissed to them after the third interception.

"No promises," they had replied before scurrying off to finish setting up.

That had been several hours ago. Saeko had left for the night at about 12am, citing that she had work the next morning. Ryuu volunteered to stay in her stead and Saeko had given the promise that she would be back around 6 to pick them up. Around 1am, Tadashi and Kei had disappeared into their bedroom, telling Daichi to wake them up if anything happened. Noya was currently sitting on Asahi's lap as he fiddled with the portable sound board they had on hand. Asahi was resting his chin on Noya's head and was nodding off, his eyelids drooping as he fought to stay awake. Ryuu and Chikara were sitting in front of the couch, watching the various video feeds the team had set up around the apartment. Daichi sighed, scrubbing his face with one hand.

"Chikara, can you pass me the testimonials camera?" Daichi asked at long last. "I want to see what you and Suga got earlier."

Chikara passed Daichi the camera wordlessly, covering his mouth with one hand as he let out a big yawn. Daichi opened the playback screen and sat back to watch. On screen, Tadashi fidgeted nervously while Suga gave him a reassuring smile.

"Why don't you start with your name?" on screen Suga asked.

"My name is Yamaguchi Tadashi, I live here."

Daichi snorted; Tadashi was very obviously camera shy.

"So Tadashi, can you give us a brief history of your apartment building?" Suga asked.

"Not really, I mean, I don't know much about it," Tadashi admitted. "Tsukki and I only moved in about six months ago."

"Can you clarify who Tsukki is," came Chikara's voice from behind the camera.

"Oh, sorry," Tadashi apologized. "Tsukki is Tsukishima Kei. He's my boyfriend."

"So you and Tsukki moved in about six months ago?" Suga pressed. "When did you start seeing paranormal activities in your apartment?"

"It really only started about two months ago," Tadashi explained. "It started as small things. We'd here footsteps in the hallway late at night, but when we went to check, there'd be no one there. It started in the hallway outside our apartment, but then we started hearing it in our apartment too. It really freaked me out, if I'm honest with you."

'It'd freak me out too,' Daichi thought.

"Then things started getting moved around the apartment," Tadashi continued onscreen. "We'd go to bed and when we'd wake up the next morning things would be rearranged. At first we thought one of us was sleep walking, so we put in preventative measures, like things we could run into that would wake us up, but when we'd wake up in the morning, they'd be untouched and our furniture would still be rearranged."

"How often do these things happen?" Suga asked.

"Pretty much nightly," Tadashi replied.

"Did something happen in your apartment recently?" Suga asked. "Like, have there been any reported deaths or anything like that?"

"There have been actually," Tadashi admitted. "There was this guy who lived a few floors down from us. He died in a freak accident about three months ago."

"It's possible that his ghost could be haunting the apartment building," Suga explained. "If the ghost is just rearranging your furniture, it's probably a benevolent spirit with a mischievous streak. Although…."

"Although what?" Tadashi asked.

"We did have a run in with a benevolent spirit that turned violent about a month ago," Suga said. "I mean, we did trespass into its home, so it's understandable why it got mad, but still."

Tadashi let out a squeak of fear and Chikara hissed, "Damn it Suga, don't scare the kid."

"Sorry, sorry, it's just something to think about is all," Suga apologized. "If anything, this ghost is the one trespassing. We'll see if we can find anything tonight and we can make a plan of action afterwards. If it's a reasonable ghost, maybe we can talk it into leaving your apartment alone."

"That would be nice," Tadashi agreed.

"Now that that's out of the way," Suga began, "how about my offer to smoke a quick bowl."

With a scowl, Daichi hit pause on the camera's playback screen. They'd have to edit that part out if they used that footage. With a sigh, Daichi placed the camera down on the coffee table and got to his feet. A quick check of the nearby clock showed that it was almost 4:30. They agreed that they'd call the investigation at 6am and regroup for a discussion of another all night observation, barring if they found any evidence of a haunting that night. With another hour and a half, Daichi wasn't feeling that optimistic that they'd find anything. Still, Daichi knew that they couldn't back out now. Despite having no tangible evidence, Tadashi had asked for their help and damn it, Daichi was going to help.

"Anything yet?" came Tadashi's voice from the hallway. 

Daichi and the others who were awake jumped at the sudden whisper. They hadn't expected Tadashi to reappear until morning.

"Nothing yet," Daichi sighed. "We’ve been monitoring things pretty closely, so I thought we would have by now."

"Maybe the ghost has performance anxiety?" Ryuu suggested, earning a glare from Chikara.

"Couldn't sleep?" Daichi asked, ignoring Ryuu.

"No, I couldn't," Tadashi said. "To tell you the truth, I was worried that you guys would have given up and left by now."

"We committed to a full night here," Daichi reminded Tadashi. "We stand by our promises."

"That's comforting," Tadashi said with a laugh. "Sorry to be so pessimistic. No one else has believed me when I brought it up. Everyone just thinks that we're making it up for attention."

"No worries, it's our job to believe in this sort of thing," Daichi said.

Tadashi was about to say something else when Noya suddenly perked up. "Daichi, I got something," he said. "It sounds like footsteps heading down the hallway."

Tadashi and Daichi snapped their gazes to the hallway. It was empty. Asahi was staring straight ahead, wide eyed and pale. Daichi scrambled towards Noya and grabbed Noya's headphones. Sure enough, Daichi could hear the faint sounds of someone pacing in the hallway. Turning slowly, Daichi handed the headphones back to Noya and looked at Tadashi.

"Looks like you've got your evidence," Daichi said.

"You heard it?" Tadashi asked. "Footsteps?"

"It was faint, but yes," Daichi replied.

"What now Daichi?" Noya asked, squirming out of Asahi's death grip.

"Someone wake up Suga," Daichi ordered. "We've got ourselves an investigation."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team sets up for another night of observations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha...aha....aha.... Guess who's dropping out of NaNo this year. That's right, it's this asshole. NaNo just wasn't a thing that could happen this year for me. I'll definitely finish this story because this project is my child, it just won't be a NaNo winner. There's a bit more transcript formatting in this chapter. Also content warning for spiders and cobwebs near the middle to end of the chapter. The line before it is "...Daichi and Tadashi stepped into the dark, musty room" and the line after it is "Ah fuck". Also some new characters appear yay!
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated. Thanks so much to everyone who has supported this fic so far, I love you all. Enjoy!

Once Suga was prodded awake, the team got to work.  Chikara moved out into the hallway to give Narita and Kinoshita a call while Ryuu and Nishinoya set up more equipment in the hallway.  Asahi seemed to be shell shocked and wouldn't stop staring at the hallway, but Daichi was too concerned about the noises from the hallway to worry about getting Asahi to snap out of it.  Tadashi went to wake up Kei while Suga stood next to Daichi, yawning loudly.

"So you heard footsteps and decided to leap into action, huh?" Suga asked, his voice groggy from sleep and smoke.

"Well yeah, what would you have done?" Daichi asked in return.

"Check the hallway to see if one of the neighbors was walking by," Suga deadpanned.  "But that just seems like the logical thing to do."

"This is coming from the guy who once spent forty five minutes arguing with someone over whether or not a kilogram of steel weighed the same as a kilogram of feathers," Daichi muttered.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Suga asked.

"Just saying, logic's not your strongest suit," Daichi replied.

Suga frowned and was quiet for a moment before he mumbled, "Okay, to be fair, I was really high that day."

Daichi snorted, "Suga, I don't want to scare you or anything, but you're usually high."

Suga let out a fake gasp and placed his hand on his chest, "Oh my god.  How come no one told me?"

"We wanted to wait until you were older," Daichi joked.  "We thought you were too young to understand."

"Are you two done over there?" Chikara asked.

Daichi and Suga jumped; they hadn't realized Chikara had returned.  "Sorry," they mumbled.

"Kinoshita and Narita said that they wouldn't be able to come over right away," Chikara explained, ignoring Daichi and Suga's halfhearted apology.  "Apparently frantic calls at 5am do not constitute an emergency.  They can be over around 7am."

"That doesn't work for us," Kei cut in, having entered the living room with Tadashi.  "We have work today starting at 7."

"But you guys can come back after 4pm and pick up where you left off," Tadashi said.  "We're off work at 3, so we should be home around 3:30."

"Can we at least get the testimonials out of the way?" Daichi asked.  "We can come back later, but if we can at least get those done, I'd be happy."

Kei made a face, disgust clearly written all over his features.  Kei definitely did not want to be interviewed that early in the morning.  He was about to voice his displeasure when Tadashi gave him a look.

"….Fine," Kei muttered.

**_[A close up on Yamaguchi Tadashi.  He is sitting on a couch in his living room.  Early morning light filters through the windows and Tadashi suppresses a yawn.  He lifts a hand to rub the sleep from his eyes, but thinks better of it.  He lowers his hand.  Tsukishima Kei sits next to him, looking equally tired.  There is a scowl on his face as he looks anywhere but the camera.]_ **

**CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Start with your names, ages and occupations.

 **KEI:** Is this a testimonial or a variety show?

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** It's just for the record.

 **TADASHI:** My name is Yamaguchi Tadashi.  I'm 22 and a cashier at Hit The Grounds Running.

**_[Tadashi looks at Kei expectantly.  Kei remains quiet.  Tadashi nudges Kei with his elbow gently and Kei sighs.]_ **

**KEI:** _{Reluctantly}_ My name is Tsukishima Kei.  I'm 22 years old and I'm a barista at Hit the Grounds Running.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** And you two have been the recent subject of a haunting, correct?

**_[Kei scoffs at the question, earning him another elbow to the ribs.]_ **

**KEI:** Stop that.

 **TADASHI:** Don't be rude Tsukki.

 **KEI:** What?  They already know that there's something up here.

 **TADASHI:** Tsukki, come on.  It's an interview for the show.  They probably needed this footage.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** It's okay, we can edit this part out later.  Now, back to the question.  You two have been the subject of a haunting recently?

 **TADASHI:** Yes, we've been seeing signs of paranormal activity in our apartment recently.

 **KEI:** Supposed paranormal activity.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** How recently?  And what kinds of paranormal activity?

 **TADASHI:** For about two months now.  It started as footsteps in the hallway at night, then things began to move on their own.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** And there's no chance that you guys were sleep walking?

 **KEI:** I still think it's a possibility.

 **TADASHI:** _{Exasperated}_ Tsukki, come on.  We made traps for each other to make sure we weren't sleep walking.  Like, trip wires and things that would block our paths.  Things that would wake us up if we were sleep walking.  We'd wake up in the morning in the same bed and the traps would be fine.  They weren't tripped. But things would still be moved around the apartment.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** When you say stuff's been moved, what do you mean by that?

 **TADASHI:** Small stuff mostly.  Like, glasses, vases, picture frames.  Things that are easy to carry.  Though recently, our furniture's started moving a bit too.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Your furniture's been moved?

 **TADASHI:** Once or twice, yeah.  We'll walk into the living room and a chair will be upside down or something like that.

 **KEI:** It's only happened a few times.  Honestly, someone with one of our spare keys might be trying to mess with us.  That seems more likely to me.

 **TADASHI:** I know, but it still seems weird to me.  Like, if people were breaking into our apartment to mess with our stuff, why only stop with one chair?

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Has anything happened in your apartment building recently?  Any deaths or anything like that?

 **TADASHI:** Like I told Sugawara last night, there was a death in the building a few months ago.  It was a freak accident.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** What happened?

**_[Tadashi suddenly looks very uncomfortable.  He fidgets nervously and looks down.  He seems unsure how to proceed.]_ **

**KEI:**  Futakuchi Kenji.  His name was Futakuchi Kenji.  We're not entirely sure what happened.  We heard about it from his next door neighbors.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Can you give me any details?

 **KEI:** I guess during a party with some of his friends he drunkenly stabbed a fork into a toaster.  The outcome wasn't pretty.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Oh my god.

 **KEI:** Yeah.  I heard he lived alone, but his friends visited pretty regularly. We'd see them around for the first month after the accident, but then they stopped coming by.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** And that was about the same time that the footsteps started?

 **KEI:** According to Yamaguchi, yes.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Did you guys have any connection to Futakuchi?  Socially?  Is there any reason for him to be haunting you guys, if it is him?

**_[Tadashi and Kei share a look, as if trying to recall a time long gone.  After a moment, they shake their heads in unison.]_ **

**KEI:** No, we never really knew Futakuchi like that.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Okay, I think this is good for now.  We can get more when we come back later.

**_[Kei and Tadashi nod once, then the screen goes dark.]_ **

"So according to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, Futakuchi's friends stopped coming by the apartment about a month after Futakuchi died," Chikara explained, leaning on his forearms on the table.  "And that was also about the same time that the paranormal activity began to happen."

The group had relocated to a nearby coffee shop once Kei had kicked them out and were now waiting for Saeko to come pick them up.  Daichi rubbed one hand across his eyes, the exhaustion setting in finally.  Daichi could see the exhaustion on the faces of his teammates as well.  They all needed a shower, food and some sleep.  Not necessarily in that order, but Daichi would take whatever he could get.

"So we're in agreement that the ghost is Futakuchi then?" Daichi asked as he cradled his coffee mug.

There was a resounding chorus of agreement before Suga spoke up.  "I wonder if Futakuchi's trying to make new friends then," Suga said.  "I mean, maybe his ghost thinks that his friends abandoned him and he wants to find some new friends around the apartment building."

"And he just so happened to latch onto Tsukishima and Yamaguchi?" Noya asked.

"Exactly," Suga replied before taking a sip of his coffee.

"But why those two?" Daichi asked.  "Kei said that they weren't close at all.  Futakuchi was just another person in their building.  They weren't friends or anything."

"Maybe Futakuchi's ghost remembered seeing them around?" Asahi supplied.  "Seeing them could have possibly brought back memories, right?"

"It's possible, I just don't think that the three of them would have had a strong enough connection in life to trigger anything memory-wise," Daichi said.

"But it is possible," Ryuu said.  "I mean, Ghost Futakuchi probably saw one of them walk into the building and was all like 'Hey, I vaguely remember seeing those guys around the building when I was alive, maybe I can go chill with them for a bit, but how do I get their attention?  Oh, I know!  I'll ghost my way into their apartment and move shit around while they sleep!'  Makes sense to me."

"Makes sense to me too," Noya said around a mouthful of muffin, crumbs flying as he spoke.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Asahi and Daichi said at the same time.

Noya gave Daichi and Asahi a petulant look before swallowing.  He took a quick sip of coffee before continuing, "So Futakuchi decides to make friends with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, but just ends up pestering the shit out of them.  Which then leads me to my next idea.  Maybe Futakuchi's ghost knows he's annoying the hell out of Tsukishima and Yamaguchi and is doing it on purpose."

The table went silent for a moment while they considered that as a possibility.  "Do you really think he'd be like that?" Chikara asked.

"I dunno, he might be," Noya replied.

"Well, there is one way to find out," Suga said.

"What do you have in mind?" Daichi asked.

"We could talk to his friends."

***

"How the hell should we know who his friends are?" Kei snapped when the team asked him later.  The group had mostly assembled at Tadashi and Kei's apartment.  Saeko had volunteered to pick up Narita, Kinoshita and the studio's film equipment, and were excused from Kei's current brand of annoyance.  "We barely knew Futakuchi as it is, why would we know his friends?"

"It was just a thought," Ryuu grouched under his breath.

"We didn't know if you had reached out to them after Futakuchi's death," Daichi explained.  "You know, to offer condolences and the like."

Kei looked almost physically repulsed by the thought.

"Well, I still think we could try to get in contact with them," Suga said.  "We just need to figure out a way to find them."

"Has Futakuchi's apartment been cleaned out by the landlord at all?" Chikara asked.

Kei and Tadashi looked at each other with raised eyebrows before shrugging.

"It probably has," Tadashi said.  "I mean, it's been three months.  I don't think his parents came to pick up any of his stuff.  I know his friends didn't."

"Would his stuff have been sold off by the landlord or would it be put into storage?" Daichi asked.

"I imagine it was put into storage," Kei said.  "There's storage space in the basement for people who really need it.  You'd need the landlord's permission to get the key to get in there.  Somehow I don't think he'd give it to a group of amateur ghost hunters though."  Kei gave the assembled group a look, one that caused Noya and Ryuu to take a step towards Kei with murder in their eyes.  Suga grabbed them by the collars of their shirts and dragged them backwards.

"Maybe they don't need permission to get in," Tadashi mused, deep in thought.  The group turned and gave Tadashi a confused look.  Tadashi blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck before muttering, "I mean, I kinda of know how to pick locks and stuff, so it wouldn't be too hard to get in."

The room collectively exploded in a fit of exclamations.

"What the hell, you're like 12!" Ryuu and Noya shouted.

"I'm 22, but thanks," Tadashi grumbled.

"Yamaguchi, are you serious?" Kei hissed.

"Sorry Tsukki, I know it sounds dumb, but anything to help right?"

"Are you sure?" Daichi asked before Kei could say anything else.  "We don't want you to get in trouble with your landlord or anything."

"I mean, as long as we're quick about it, it should be fine," Tadashi said.  "You guys just need a laptop or a cell phone, right?"

"Yeah, and a charger for each probably," Suga agreed.

Tadashi nodded and left the room to grab whatever he needed.  Kei's frown deepened and he threw a glare at the team, one that clearly said "Should we get in trouble, I will come for your sorry asses".  Daichi made the executive decision that he would be the only one to go with Tadashi into the basement.  Once Tadashi returned, Daichi cleared his throat.

"Ok, Tadashi and I will head down to the basement to look for Futakuchi's possessions.  Everyone else will stay here and wait for Saeko and the others.  While we're downstairs, I want the equipment we left checked to see if we got anything while we were all gone.  Replace all of the old tapes with new ones and make sure that nothing's disturbed the feeds.  Chikara's in charge while I'm gone."

"Shouldn't I be in charge?" Suga asked with no small amount of indignation.  "You know, the oldest?"

Daichi leveled Suga with his most deadpan look and said, "Absolutely not."  Suga's jaw dropped as Daichi turned away from him.

"What exactly is the chain of command?" Kei asked.

Daichi smiled; he rarely got the opportunity to be an asshole.  "The chain of command is as follows: Me, Chikara, Narita, Kinoshita, Tsukishima-."

"This is my apartment," Tsukishima grouched.

"Tsukishima," Daichi continued as if Kei hadn't interrupted him, "Yamaguchi, Asahi."

"Oh thank god," Asahi breathed.

"Then me, right?" Suga asked.

"Then a random person on the street," Daichi plowed on, ignoring Suga like he had ignored Kei.  "Then the combination of Ryuu, Noya and Saeko, because together they'd make one whole functioning adult.  Then the ghost.  Then lastly, Suga."  Daichi hadn't thought it possible for Suga to look any more offended than he already had been, but lord he wished he could take a picture of Suga's face at that moment.  The combination of hurt, offense and disbelief was one that Daichi wanted framed and hung on his wall.  Suga turned away from Daichi with a pout that was too cute for Daichi to handle at present, so he turned away himself, trying his hardest not to laugh hysterically.  "Now that we're clear on that," Daichi all but choked out, "let's get to work."

Daichi motioned  for Tadashi to follow him out the door and stepped out into the hallway.  Tadashi followed shortly after and closed the door behind him, muffling the sounds of Noya and Tanaka gloating about their combined authority to a gradually more murderous looking Suga.  They stepped into the elevator wordlessly and Tadashi pressed the button for the basement level.  The ride down was spent in near silence until Tadashi spoke up.

"So is Sugawara really that far down on the list?" Tadashi asked.

Daichi snorted and Tadashi threw him a questioning look.  "No, Suga's not that far down on the list," Daichi admitted.  "I'd say the real chain of command goes me, Chikara, then Suga and Asahi in a tied-for-third situation, then the others.  They're more reliable than they let on.  Just Asahi's a big crybaby at the worst of times, and, well…. Let's just say that Suga'd be more reliable the less he smoked on the job."

"That's understandable," Tadashi agreed.

"I hope we're not imposing too much on you and Kei," Daichi said suddenly.  "I know that this all just sort of happened."

"Not at all," Tadashi reassured him.  "I'm the one who asked you guys to come, so I'm glad that things are moving quickly.  Kei will come around eventually.  It just takes him some time to warm up to people."

Daichi hummed in response and they lapsed back into silence.  The ride didn't last much longer, the elevator chiming once they reached the basement a few seconds later.  The doors slid open and Daichi and Tadashi stepped into the dark, musty room.  The scent of mildew perforated the air and cobwebs hung from the ceiling in droves.  Daichi sidestepped one spider web with a particularly large spider in the center as he and Tadashi moved further into the room.

"Ah fuck," Tadashi muttered.

"What's wrong?" Daichi asked.

"I forgot a flashlight," Tadashi said.

Daichi held up his phone and activate the flashlight function, blinding the pair for a few seconds.  Tadashi rubbed the spots from his eyes as Daichi did the same.

"Sorry," Daichi muttered, swinging the light around until he found the light switch.  Daichi walked towards it and called out, "Cover your eyes" before flipping the switch.  The room was instantly flushed in florescent light.  The rarely used lights flickered pathetically, but remained on.  Tadashi eyed the elevator once before turning to the storage room door.  A sudden noise startled the pair, causing them to turn to the elevator.  The doors didn't open, but the sound of the elevator rising filled the room.  Someone else had called for it.

"How long do you think it'll take to get the door open?" Daichi asked.

"No idea, a few minutes?" Tadashi replied, uncertain.

"Okay, get to work, I'll keep an eye out," Daichi said.

Tadashi nodded and set to work.  Daichi leaned against a nearby wall, keeping half of his attention on the elevator and half his attention on Tadashi's movements.  The thought occurred to Daichi that maybe they could use Tadashi's skills on the show, but part of Daichi knew that Kiyoko would be less than thrilled over the breaking and entering.  Well, they had technically broken and entered when they had gone to the haunted house, but that was different.  Somehow.  Daichi shook his head and turned his attention fully to the elevator.  He'd discuss it with the others.

"Almost there," Tadashi called after a few minutes.

"No worries," Daichi said.  "We’ve got time."  That seemed to be the exact opposite thing to say, however.  No sooner had the words left Daichi's mouth, the sound of the elevator descending became louder.

"You jinxed it, didn't you?" Tadashi asked.

"Work faster!" Daichi snapped in panic, the elevator getting closer.

Tadashi yelped and almost dropped his tools.  He scrambled to regain hold of his tools and worked at twice the speed he had been.  Daichi glanced nervously between the elevator and Tadashi.  With a click and a triumphant cry, Tadashi shoved the storage room door open and dove inside.  Daichi was right on his heels, throwing the switch and plunging the room back into darkness before al but throwing himself into the room behind Tadashi.  He quickly shut the door and locked it behind them, breathing heavily as he leaned against the wooden surface.  Tadashi was shaking next to him, one ear pressed against the door as he waited for them to be caught.  After waiting in anxiety for a few heart pounding minutes, the duo realized that the elevator never dinged.  The duo relaxed, slumping against the door.

"It must have stopped a few floors up," Daichi breathed.

"Oh god, I thought I was going to have a heart attack," Tadashi whimpered.  "Or puke.  I still might puke actually."

"Try to keep it in until we get back upstairs," Daichi muttered as he felt the wall, looking for the light switch.  "Then you can puke in the comfort of your own bathroom and not in a gross, moldy basement."

Tadashi nodded, then reached above his head and tugged on a pull string.  The overhead light clicked on, bathing the room in a light much softer than the fluorescents outside.  The storage room itself was small and square, not much bigger than a college dorm room.  There were cardboard boxes in various states of deterioration mixed in among the more sensible plastic storage bins.  In one corner was stacked a pile of newer looking cardboard boxes that seemed largely unaffected by the humidity of the basement.  Each one was labeled with the kanji for "Futakuchi Kenji".

"There it is," Tadashi said, gesturing towards the boxes.

"No furniture huh?" Daichi asked as they approached the boxes.

"The landlord might have sold it off," Tadashi suggested.  "That, or he decided to keep the apartment fully furnished until Futakuchi's family could get in and take care of it."

Daichi nodded in response, turning to the boxes.  Each one was taped shut and Daichi groaned.  He hadn't thought about sealing the boxes back up once they were done.

"It'll be okay," Tadashi said, as if reading his mind.  "Once we're done here I can leave the door unlocked and take care of things later.  It'll be like we were never down here."

"Sounds good," Daichi replied.  He reached into his back pocket and removed his house keys.  He approached the first box and examined it for any indication of what the contents might be.  Luckily, the landlord had been thorough when he had packed up Futakuchi's belongings.  The box had "clothes written on the side.  "That makes things a bit easier," Daichi whispered as he placed the box off to the side.  "Look for anything that says 'electronics' or 'personal items'."

The pair dove into their work with diligence.  After several minutes of ripping boxes open, Daichi found what they were looking for.  Futakuchi's laptop had been placed in a black computer bag along with his cell phone and his cell phone charger.  Daichi pulled the items out of the box and cradled them close to his chest.  Tadashi piled things back into his box and shoved it back against the wall, trying to make things look neat.

"Let's go," Daichi called to Tadashi.

They quickly left the room, turning off the light and pulling the door shut behind them.  The elevator ride back up to Tadashi's apartment took no time at all and soon the two found themselves at Tadashi's front door.  Tadashi went in first, his smile wide.

"We got the laptop and the phone," Tadashi called out as he made his way to the living room.

"Did you guys have any problems?" Chikara asked, his voice coming from Tadashi and Kei's bedroom.

"We had a brief scare," Daichi said, "but it turned out to be a false alarm.  How'd things go up here?"

There was a pause before Chikara replied, "Things are good.  Kinoshita and Narita are setting up some equipment in here.  Saeko and Suga went to go get food and coffee for the night."

"So they'll be gone a while," Daichi said, more to himself than anything else.  "Alright, let's finish getting things set up and then go over what the new game plan is.  Having the ability to get in contact with Futakuchi's friends is going to make a huge difference in the long run."

"I had a thought," Noya piped up from the couch.  "How about we try getting into Futakuchi's apartment?  Baring that anyone's actually moved in at this point, of course.  Well, then again, we might be able to get in with the right incentives offered.  Some people will do anything to get on television these days."

Ryuu made an odd, strangled noise that Daichi didn't quite understand, but he let it slide.  "We'll have Tadashi ask the landlord while we talk to Futakuchi's friends.  Maybe we can work something out."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Asahi said, speaking up for the first time in what was probably hours.

"Why not?  Wouldn't Futakuchi's apartment be the epicenter of ghost activity?" Noya asked.

"That's what I'm worried about," Asahi mumbled.

"Asahi, I swear to god," Daichi groaned before rubbing his eyes.  "Ok, ignoring Asahi for now, I do think that's a good idea, Noya.  We'll get Tadashi on that.  For now, if someone can get Futakuchi's electronics plugged in and charging so we can get some names and phone numbers, that'd be great.  Let's get moving."

***

To say that Moniwa Kaname was tired would be a gross understatement.  He was Tired.  With a capital T.  With a trademark sign.  Well, maybe not as Tired as he was when his problematic fave was still alive, but…  Moniwa shook his head, rubbed his eyes and exited the subway, blending in with the rest of the evening rush hour crowd.  God he needed to get out.  Moniwa hadn't been out much since Futakuchi had passed, lord only knew when was the last time he had talked to Aone.  He had thrown himself into his work in order to avoid thinking about things, but that only made things worse in a way.  He woke up, he brushed his teeth, went to work on a crowded subway, came home in the exact same manner, made dinner, fed his cat and went to bed.  Every single day.  For the last two months.  He needed a break.  Or a vacation.  A long vacation.

Operating on autopilot, Moniwa somehow made his way to his apartment, toeing off his shoes once he was inside and the door was shut.  As per usual, his cat had not come out to greet him.  She would probably make an appearance when she was hungry.  Like she always did.

Moniwa was about to flop face first onto his futon when his phone suddenly started ringing.  Moniwa started, not used to getting a phone call from anyone other than Futakuchi.  Moniwa slowly pulled his phone from his pocket and—with much trepidation—checked the screen.  An unknown number.  Groaning, Moniwa dropped his phone on the futon and collapsed on it, ready to sleep.  After a few rings, the phone went silent.  Moniwa stared at it, wondering if it was a telemarketer or something.  Moniwa was about ready to slip it back into his pocket when the phone chimed once more.  A voicemail.  Moniwa unlocked his phone and opened his voicemail, pressing the phone to his ear. 

An unfamiliar voice, tinny from the phone's speakers, began to speak, "My name is Sawamura Daichi, I'm calling for a Moniwa Kaname.  My team and I are doing a bit of an investigation and we've discovered that it might have something to do with the death of your friend Futakuchi Kenji.  If you could please give me a call back at this number, we'd like to ask you a few questions.  Thank you and have a good night."

The recording ended and the phone slipped from Moniwa's fingers.

"Futakuchi you jerk," Moniwa grumbled.  "What the hell have you done now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not projecting my perpetual exhaustion onto Moniwa, you are.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Team, how's it going? I apologize in advance for the fact that I haven't updated this fic since November, but I promise I haven't abandoned it. It's kinda hard to get fics updated with my work schedule. I'll try to have chapter 5 up sooner than I had this one up. I also have some news. I will be at Anime Boston this year! It's my sports anime convention in terms of cosplay, I'll be Suga on Friday, Yuuri on Saturday and Daichi on Sunday. Say hi if you see me! As always, thanks for reading/commenting/leaving kudos. You all are lovely!

"So what's our game plan?" Saeko asked as she sat down next to Tadashi on the young man's couch.

With the return of Saeko and Suga, the team plus Tadashi and Kei had assembled in the couple's living room.  The already tiny space felt even more cramped with everyone present, but there was a definite sense of excitement present.  Another camera had been set up in the corner, one provided by the studio, which would be constantly running during the duration of the episode.  From then on, everything would be caught on camera.

"We got in touch with Futakuchi's friend Moniwa," Daichi said.  "He agreed to get another friend of theirs named Aone to come over to his apartment and meet with us."

"And by 'us' you mean the most responsible of us right?" Noya asked from his spot on the floor.

 "It'd be for the best, don't you think?" Daichi asked in return.  "We don't want to overwhelm them."

"Fair point," Noya conceded.  "So you're obviously going.  Who else is going with you?"

"I was thinking of taking either Chikara or Suga," Daichi said.  "Saeko too."

Suga let out a snort, "Oh, so now I'm one of the responsible ones?"

Daichi almost let out a groan of annoyance.  Almost.

"What needs to happen here?" Kinoshita cut in.

"We need to dig up some more information on Futakuchi," Daichi said.  "Tadashi, you said you were going to try to get in touch with your landlord?"

"I did," Tadashi said.  "He said that you guys could have access to Futakuchi's stuff and his old apartment in exchange for a testimonial in your show."

Daichi and Chikara shared a brief look before Chikara nodded.  "That can be arranged."

"Are Tadashi and I really necessary to your little… Investigation?" Kei asked, speaking for the first time in hours.

 Daichi frowned, "Well, no.  You two don't have to participate since you're not part of the team.  But if you two would like to, we wouldn't say no to the extra help."

Kei glanced at Tadashi before sighing, "I suppose we could help."

"Maybe Kei can go with whatever group goes to Futakuchi's apartment and I can go with whatever group goes down to the basement," Tadashi suggested.  "The landlord gave me the key so we don't have to break in this time."

Asahi gave Tadashi a concerned look, "You want to go back down there?"

Tadashi shrugged in response.  "Sure, why not?"

"So how about this," Suga interjected.  "Tadashi, Chikara, and Kinoshita can go down to the basement together.  Kei will take Narita, Ryuu, and Noya to Futakuchi's apartment.  Saeko can drive Daichi and Asahi to Moniwa's place and then bring them back once they're done."

"And what are you going to do?" Asahi asked.

"I'm going to do some research and keep an eye on things here," Suga explained.  "Unless you'd rather stay here with the equipment alone while I go with Daichi."

"No thank you," came Asahi's quick reply.

"That's what I thought," Suga said.

Daichi surveyed the group before him, weighing his options.  True, he would have liked to spend a little more one on one time with Suga.  On the other hand, Suga was being kind enough to get Asahi out of the supposedly haunted space for a bit.  He had been jumpier than usual.  With a nod, Daichi addressed the group, "So it's settled.  Asahi, Saeko and I will go talk with Moniwa and Aone.  Chikara, you, Tadashi and Kinoshita head to the basement and see what you guys can find.  Noya, you take Kei, Ryuu and Narita to Futakuchi's apartment.  We'll check in with each other periodically.  Let's get to work."

***

Once Daichi's group and Noya's group left Tadashi and Kei's apartment, Chikara, Kinoshita and Tadashi packed into the elevator and rode down to the basement.  They stood in relative silence before Tadashi asked what they would be looking for.

"Anything about him really," Chikara said.  He took a quick sip from the thermos in his hand before continuing, "Photographs, journals, that sort of thing.  Anything that might not already be on Futakuchi's computer."

They reached the basement soon after and Tadashi let them into the storage space.  Kinoshita turned the light on and the trio started the task of searching the boxes.  Any box labeled with "Futakuchi was separated from the rest of the boxes and then searched through.  Tadashi pointed out the boxes that he and Daichi had gone through earlier and those were set off to the side if they were deemed useless.  After half an hour of sorting through the boxes, the team had accumulated a large amount of pictures, a few books, and a stack of letters from Futakuchi's relatives.

"I think that just about does it," Kinoshita commented as he got to his feet. 

Tadashi handed him some of Futakuchi's things before standing and stretching.  Tadashi gathered the last of the items and looked at Chikara, "So, now what?"

"You two go on ahead and bring that back up to Tadashi's apartment," Chikara said from his spot on the floor.  "I'm gonna keep looking around for a bit longer."

"You sure?" Kinoshita asked as Tadashi left the room.

Chikara nodded, "Yeah, I'll be back up in a few minutes, I just wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything."

Kinoshita nodded and left the room with the rest of the items.  Chikara turned back to the boxes and continued to rummage through them.  They already had his laptop, his phone, several photos, so Chikara really had no idea what else he could be looking for.  Maybe something tying Futakuchi to Kei and Tadashi?  He continued to search for a few more minutes, setting aside several more photos before sitting back on his heels.

"That's probably good enough," Chikara said to himself.  He gathered the photos and his thermos before standing and heading towards the door.

A sudden noise tore into the silence, the sound of a box being jostled.  Chikara froze, slowly turning to stare at the source of the noise.  Maybe Kinoshita had come back and he hadn't noticed?  Nope.  He was alone in the room.  Chikara continued to eye the boxes with no small amount of trepidation, his hand gripping his thermos tight until his knuckles turned white.

'This is ridiculous,' Chikara thought to himself, 'I'm having a staring contest with a box.  I've been hanging out with Asahi way too much-.'

There was another rustling noise and Chikara screeched.

"NOT TODAY BOX GHOST," he screamed as he chucked his thermos at the pile of boxes. 

The thermos collided with the box, spraying coffee everywhere.  Chikara breathed heavily as he watched the coffee seep into the cardboard.  The box hadn't moved again.

"Chikara, what the fuck?" Kinoshita groaned from behind him.

And didn't that make this whole situation better?

"I thought there was a ghost," Chikara muttered, refusing to look his friend in the eye.

"Why would a ghost haunt a box?" Kinoshita pressed.

"Because it's the Box Ghost?" Chikara offered weakly.

Kinoshita shrugged helplessly at Chikara, and Chikara wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him whole.  He power walked over the sodden cardboard to retrieve his thermos.  The box rustled again, and this time Chikara could see the source of the noise: several mice had taken shelter next to the box and had been disturbed by Chikara's own presence.  If Chikara hadn't been mortified before, he certainly was now.

"So what was it?" Kinoshita asked from the doorway.

Chikara grabbed his thermos from the floor, turned back around and stormed out of the room.  Kinoshita jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being bowled over by Chikara, a wide grin plastered on his face.  He ducked back inside the room and after a moment, he began to laugh hysterically.  He joined Chikara by the elevator doors, still laughing.  Chikara shot him the best death glare he could and Kinoshita made a weak attempt to stifle his laughter.  They waited for the elevator in silence, waiting for it to reach the basement.  A few seconds later, it arrived with a soft ding.

"Not a damn word to Daichi or anyone else," Chikara growled when the elevator doors finally opened.

"Don't worry Ennoshita, your secret's safe with me," Kinoshita promised.  "No one needs to know that big, bad Mr. Director is terrified of mice and screams like a little kid."

Kinoshita's grin only grew wider as Chikara slammed his head against the closed elevator doors.

***

The ride to Moniwa's apartment was faster than Daichi and Saeko anticipated.  Daichi had called Moniwa as they had left the building and Moniwa had given them the address.  It was a ten minute drive at most, giving the trio plenty of time to come up with a list of questions for Moniwa and Aone.  Questions aside, they did have one problem.  Their goal, ultimately, was to not come across as offensive to Moniwa and Aone's emotions.  Something about the phrase, "We're paranormal investigators and your dead friend is probably haunting our clients" seemed a little insensitive in Daichi and Asahi's minds. 

"What are you going to tell them about why you're there?" Saeko asked without looking at Daichi as she pulled up to the curb.  "It doesn't really work if you try posing as police officers.  They were there when their friend died, it's not like it was a murder."

"Maybe we can pose as insurance agents?" Asahi suggested.  Saeko let out a snort of amusement and Asahi shrunk back in his seat.

"I think the best course of action is to not tell them why we're investigating Futakuchi's death," Daichi said after a moment.  "We already said that we were doing an investigation of sorts and that he's involved, so that should be good enough.  If they ask us for details, we can tell them that it's classified information."

"How's that going to work?" Asahi pressed.  "We're horrible liars, Daichi.  And it'd be rude to just ignore their questions."

Daichi ran a hand through his cropped hair and sighed.  "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it," Daichi said.  "For now, not a word about the paranormal.  We need information."

***

The silence was a blessing to Suga.  He could work better if it was quiet.  After the rest left, he went around and checked that all the equipment was still running before settling on the couch.  He pulled a book out of his bag and flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for.

"Alright, let's see what this has to say about ghosts and hauntings," Suga murmured before he began to read aloud.  "This says 'If the ghost is someone who was murdered or died horribly, they are probably still angry about it.'  Well no shit.  'Many ghosts seem to be stuck in a pattern that they have to repeat. For example, they always cross a certain room-,' but why?  Sure, Futakuchi keeps coming back to this apartment, but why?"

Suga sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.  They needed more answers.  Suga looked back down at the page, not really reading its contents, too lost in thought.  Futakuchi died horribly in his own apartment, but his ghost kept frequenting Kei and Tadashi's apartment.  The thought occurred to Suga that maybe it wasn't even Futakuchi's ghost, but the ghost of someone else who had died in the apartment.  But Kei and Tadashi hadn't reported any other paranormal activity before Futakuchi died, so who else would it be?

A sudden chill hit Suga out of nowhere, like someone was blowing on the back of his neck.  Suga clapped a hand over the back of his neck and spun around.  The room was empty, Suga was alone.  Suga turned back around, keeping a watchful eye on the room.  Nothing happened.  Suga settled back down on the couch and turned back to the book.

"'Other more malicious ghosts don't want to share their favorite place and go around scaring off any living people who try to move in by terrorizing them with screams-.' Again, Futakuchi never lived here, so why-?"

 Without warning, the book was knocked from Suga's hands and launched across the room.  It landed with a thump at the same time Suga jumped and let out a yelp of shock.  He scrambled backwards and fell off the back of the couch.  He landed soundly on his backside, swearing loudly and profusely.

"What in the shit-?!" Suga yelled. 

He swiveled his head from side to side as he tried to find his attacker.  But still, he was alone.  Spying one of the cameras the team had set up the night before, Suga crawled over to it.  He stopped the recording and hit the playback feature.  On the tiny screen, he watched as the book was knocked out of his hands by an unseen force.  He rewound the scene and watched it again, looking for any sign of movement prior to the book being hit.

"So when is a ghost not just a ghost, but an asshole?" Suga mused.

An idea came to Suga then.  He hit "record" on the camera again and set it back into place before going to retrieve the book.  He opened it back up and flipped a few pages forward until he found what he was looking for.  In the middle of the page, in a poorly designed font, was the word "Poltergeist".

***

To say that neither party was what the other expected would be a gross understatement.  In Daichi's mind, he had been expecting Futakuchi's friends to be well…. more or less like Terushima, Kuroo, and Bokuto.  He wasn't expecting the human embodiments of exhaustion and tall, silent and no eyebrows.  In Moniwa's mind, he had been expecting…. well, the police maybe?  He wasn't entirely sure.  Certainly not two men who looked like they hadn't slept in three days.  Aone seemed particularly weary of the jumpy one with the bun and the facial hear.  Regardless, both parties had been thrown for a loop and were now on edge.  After introductions had been made, the group had lapsed into uncomfortable silence which had dragged on for several minutes.

"So, you said you were doing an investigation?" Moniwa began.  "And that it might have something to do with Futakuchi?"

"We are," Daichi said, pulling out a notepad and pen from his back pocket.  "Our.... Acquaintances are residents in Futakuchi's building.  Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi.  Do you know them?"

Moniwa hesitated before answering, "The names are familiar, but I'm not sure."

"Tsukishima's fairly tall, blond with glasses.  Kind of has a resting neutral expression," Daichi described.  "Yamaguchi's also kind of tall.  Brown hair and freckles.  Looks like he might throw up at any given moment."

"Oh, them.  Kind of," Moniwa said.  "We’d see them around from time to time when we would visit.  Right Aone?"

 Aone gave them the slightest of nods, his eyes never once leaving Asahi.  Asahi in turn squirmed under the attention.  Moniwa noticed this and gently nudged his friend.  Aone's eyes narrowed momentarily before he turned his attention to Daichi.  Daichi scribbled some things down in the notebook.

"What kind of person was Futakuchi?" Daichi asked.

"He was a bit of a troublemaker when he wanted to be," Moniwa replied.  "He was the kind of guy to provoke people when he found out what their buttons were.  He could be a bit exhausting sometimes, but when he got serious about something, he was incredible.  He was one of the most dedicated people I knew."

"What did he do for a living?" Daichi pressed as he kept writing.

"He worked for an accounting firm on the other side of town.  Pretty boring stuff when you think about it.  He didn't hate it, but it definitely wasn't his favorite thing in the world."

"And that translated in him being more rowdy in a social setting?" Daichi pressed.  "Was frustration with work a reason to lash out at people a bit more?"

That took Moniwa by surprise.  He shared a brief look with Aone before responding, "I suppose it's possible."

"In terms of his social life, did Futakuchi know Tsukishima and Yamaguchi very well?"

"I'm not sure," Moniwa confessed.  "If he did, he didn't talk about them much, if at all." 

"Is it possible that he held some sort of grudge against the two of them?" Asahi asked.

"Sorry, but what does Kenji's death have to do with those two?" Moniwa interrupted  "Did they say something about Kenji doing something to them?  Are they after his stuff?  If so, then they need to talk to the landlord and to Kenji's parents."

Daichi and Asahi shared an uneasy look.  How much could they say without sounding completely unhinged?

"We're paranormal investigators," Daichi began with caution, "and we believe that Tsukishima and Yamaguchi's apartment is being haunted."

"Haunted," Moniwa repeated.  It wasn't a question.

"By Futakuchi," Daichi continued.  "They've reported footsteps in their apartment late at night and their furniture being moved.  Last night we heard the footsteps ourselves."

The silence could have smothered them all.  No one spoke for minutes.  The two parties stared each other down.  Asahi squirmed uncomfortably under the gaze of Aone and Moniwa and Daichi felt his own palms grow sweaty.

"Get out," Moniwa finally hissed.

"We just-," Daichi tried, but Moniwa wasn't having it.

"This is all sorts of fucked up, and you know it," Moniwa spat.  "Our friend is dead and you think he's come back as a ghost?  And that he's haunting someone?  Are you fucking serious?  This is beyond disrespectful.  You need to leave.  Right now."

Daichi opened his mouth to—he didn't know, retaliate?  Explain?—when Asahi grabbed his shoulder.  Asahi shook his head once and Daichi let out a sigh of defeat.  They stood and made their way to the door, not looking back at Moniwa and Aone.

"Thank you for your time," Daichi said once their shoes were on.

"Just go!" Moniwa shouted, visibly shaking.

Without another word, Daichi and Asahi left.  As he pulled the door shut, Daichi watched as Moniwa bowed his head and his shoulders began to shake.  All the while, Aone's gaze never once left Asahi's retreating form.

***

"So how'd it go?" Suga asked once Saeko, Daichi and Asahi returned to Kei's apartment.  He looked up from the book on his lap and grimaced, "Judging from the look on your faces, not well."

"Our motivations may have come across as a little insensitive," Asahi explained while he and Daichi toed off their shoes.

"No, really?" Suga asked.  "Here I thought that telling someone that their dead friend was a ghost was a brilliant idea."

"Thank you Sir Sarcastic, whatever would we do without you?" Daichi retorted.  "Besides, it's not like we led with that.  We tried to avoid disclosing the whole 'We investigate the paranormal' thing."

Suga held his hands up in a placating manner and gave Daichi a gentle smile.  Daichi felt his insides squirm a bit and he felt his anger melt away.  He took a deep breath in, held it for a few seconds, then exhaled.  "We'll be fine.  We'll just need use other sources to figure out what kind of person Futakuchi is.  Was?  It doesn't matter.  We made another trip down to the storage unit to look through his stuff, and Noya and those guys went to check out the apartment.  Right?"

"Right," Suga confirmed.  "Right now Chikara, Tadashi and Kinoshita are in the other room sorting through what they found and looking at Futakuchi's laptop.  Noya and the others haven't come back yet.  In the meantime, I think I know something that might cheer you up a bit."

Daichi, who had moved to the hallway to check the video equipment, poked his head back around the corner to look at Suga, intrigued, "Oh?"

"So I did a little research," Suga began.  "I think we're dealing with a poltergeist instead of a ghost."

"Aren't they the same thing?" Chikara chimed in from another room at the same time Asahi groaned, "How is that supposed to cheer us up?"

"What makes you think Futakuchi's a poltergeist?" Daichi asked as he sat next to Suga.

"I was reading up on ghosts and I found some stuff about poltergeists that seemed to have more in common with what's been happening here in the apartment," Suga explained.  "Also the fucker smacked my book out of my hands while I was reading."

Chikara and Asahi reappeared at that moment, standing in the hallway that lead to the bedrooms and the bathroom.  Daichi glanced over at the pair before turning back to Suga.  "Alright, let's hear it," Daichi said.

"Wait, let me get the testimonial camera.  It'll be easier to pick up what Suga's saying on that than on the general observation camera," Chikara suggested before grabbing his nearby camera bag.  Once he had it in hand, he stationed himself in front of Suga, turned on the camera and gestured for Suga to start.

Suga cleared his throat before starting.  "Unlike ghosts, which often show no interest in the people living in the house they are haunting, Poltergeists are definitely hostile to the human occupants," Suga read.  "They deliberately break treasured objects, wait for them to be replaced, and then break them again.  Poltergeists continually make sudden loud noises so that nobody can relax.  They especially like to stop human beings from sleeping, and may even bite, pinch, or hit them to keep them awake."

"Suga, I hate to interrupt," Daichi cut in, "but what the hell are you reading from?"

Suga looked up at Daichi, then back down at the book in his hands before responding, "It's an encyclopedia."

"Suga…"

"I'm not lying when I say it's an encyclopedia," Suga said in his defense as he held up the book.  He pointed at the title which definitely contained the word 'encyclopedia' and continued, "See?  Encyclopedia."

"The Encyclopedia of Scary Things?" Daichi pressed.

"I found it at the bookstore," Suga explained.  "It was in the clearance bin."

Daichi let out an exasperated sigh, "Suga, I thought I said we should be looking at credible sources."

Suga leveled Daichi with a look and deadpanned, "We're looking for ghosts and you want my sources to be 'credible'.  Right, my bad.  I forgot that I needed to get all of my information from Paranormal JSTOR.  Let me get right on that."

"I see your point," Daichi muttered, but Suga wasn't done.

"Dark JSTOR, show me forbidden research about the supernatural."

"Alright alright, that's enough," Daichi snapped without much malice.  "Continue, Professor Paranormal."

Suga chuckled a bit at that and Daichi grinned in response.

"The only other thing I wanted to point out from this passage is this: Families afflicted by a Poltergeist almost always include teenagers.  Some believe that Poltergeists are drawn to the energy given off by a restless, and perhaps unhappy child."

"Are you suggesting that Kei is an unhappy child?" Daichi asked before he could help himself.

 

Suga let out a full-bodied laugh at that one and Daichi mentally gave himself a pat on the back.  Score one for Daichi.

"I might be," Suga admitted once he regained control of himself.  "I think the most important thing to take away from this is that the situation may be more dangerous than we originally anticipated.  We should proceed with caution from now on."

"Sounds good to me," Daichi said as his phone began to buzz.  He fished it out of his pocket and saw that he had three new texts from Noya.  He opened the message and groaned, "Noya, no."

[From: Noya]: hey Dai, we're at the ghosts place

[From: Noya]: we're gonna use this to talk to him

[From: Noya]: _attached image: oujia_board.jpg_

***

"I still think this is the dumbest idea anyone has ever had," Kei said from his spot next to Narita.  "Where did you guys even find that?"

Narita shrugged in response and continued to fiddle with the camera in his hands.  On the floor of the mostly bare apartment, Ryuu and Noya were in the process of setting up a Ouija board.

"I brought it with me," Ryuu explained.  "What kind of séance master would I be if I didn't carry a Ouija board with me?"

"A normal one, I'd assume," Kei replied.  "Those things are junk anyway."

"So is this the worst idea anyone's ever had because you think they're junk, or because you're scared it'll work in the presence of a séance master like Ryuu?" Noya pressed, his smile wide and mischievous.

"I don't even want to dignify that with a response," Kei replied.

"Ah, so you are scared," Noya teased as the door to the apartment burst open.  Daichi and Suga stood in the doorway, the pair breathing heavily.  Tadashi, Chikara, Kinoshita, Asahi and Saeko came up behind the duo, also breathing hard.  They filed into the apartment and stared at the pair on the floor.  "Hey team," Noya said, "how's it going?"

"Noya, what have I said about Ouija boards?" Asahi groaned.

"Hey, this is a golden opportunity for us," Noya countered.  "Ryuu here's an expert on communicating with ghosts.  Right Ryuu?"

If anyone saw Saeko facepalm, none of them chose to comment on it.

"Still, aren't Ouija boards kind of dangerous?" Tadashi asked.

"You can't be serious," Kei muttered in disbelief.  "It's a party game."

"No Ouija boards," Daichi said.  "We're not even in a place where we know what to ask Futakuchi."

"Oh come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Noya pressed.

"We piss off an angry ghost who decides to exact his revenge upon us by enlisting demons to possess us and make us do horrible things like rip our own skin off," Asahi rambled off without hesitation.  The rest of the standing group took a small, but noticeable step away from the Ouija board.

"I promise, nothing bad's gonna happen," Noya reassured the group.  "Ryuu's an expert and I trust him."

Ryuu place a hand over his heart and gave Noya a look of admiration, "Thanks man, I appreciate it."

Daichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose; this wasn't a good idea. "Fine, let's do it."

Ryuu and Noya cheered.  Everyone else looked on in disbelief.

 ***

"I don't think they were lying," Aone told Moniwa over a late dinner, breaking the awkward silence between the two of them. 

The sudden proclamation from his usually silent friend almost gave Moniwa whiplash from the speed at which his head snapped up, mouth full of food.  "You wha-?" he garbled with disbelief.

"I said that I didn't think they were lying," Aone repeated.

Moniwa swallowed his food and in his haste, choked a little.  He coughed a few times to clear his throat before grabbing his drink and chugging it.  Aone reached over and gently patted Moniwa on the back a few times before leaning back in his seat.  Once he was done almost choking to death, Moniwa eyed his friend.

"Why are you bringing this up?" Moniwa asked with watery eyes.

Aone shrugged in response.

"Nope, none of that cryptic bullshit," Moniwa pressed.  "Why do you think they aren't lying?"

"They just seemed sincere, that's all," Aone said.

"There's nothing sincere about paranormal investigation," Moniwa argued.  "They're scamming Kenji's neighbors and they tried to scam us."

"No they didn't," Aone countered.

"How do you know?" Moniwa shot back, clearly not happy with this conversation.

"The one with the beard, he can see dead people," Aone stated simply.

"What is this, _The Sixth Sense_?  No he can't," Moniwa snapped.

"Yes he can, I can tell," Aone insisted.

"How can you tell?" Moniwa pressed.

"I can see them too," Aone replied.

"What."

"That might be too dramatic," Aone backtracked.  "It's more of I can sense when there's something supernatural nearby-."

"Aone, stop," Moniwa pleaded.  He ran a hand through his hair, trying to not let his emotions overwhelm him.  Today had been a lot already, but now this was happening.  He inhaled, counted to four, then exhaled.  "There's no such thing as ghosts."

Aone observed Moniwa in silence before getting to his feet.  "I have to go."  Aone walked away from his shocked friend towards the door without looking back.

"Aone, wait," Moniwa called, scrambling to his feet and chasing after to his friend.  "Where are you going?"

"Kenji's apartment," Aone replied.

"Why?" Moniwa asked.

"Because even if you don't believe them, I do," Aone said.  "And if they're right, then that means that Kenji's troubled by something and can't move on.  And if that's the case, then I want this opportunity to help my friend.  Wouldn't you?"

Moniwa stared at his taller friend, his eyes wide.  He really couldn't argue with that logic, now could he?  "Fine," he said after a moment.  "Let's go."

***

"So, explain what you're doing for the camera," Chikara said.

"Two or more people are needed to operate the Planchette," Ryuu explained.  "One person to lead it and ask the questions, and then one to three people to help energize the Planchette.  That's what Noya and Asahi will be doing, since Asahi is sensitive to the paranormal and Noya's a ball of energy anyway.  We also need someone to document what the spirit says.  That's what Suga will be doing."

Suga waved from his spot on the floor, where he was sitting cross legged with a pad of paper and a pencil.  Asahi and Noya were sitting side by side on the floor in front of the Ouija board.  Asahi looked about ready to cry, Noya kept patting his boyfriend's back and whispering words of encouragement.

"I'll be asking most of the questions, though everyone else is welcome to join in," Ryuu continued.  "It'll be easier to channel Futakuchi because we're currently in his apartment."

"Let's get this show on the road," Daichi said, sitting down next to Suga. 

Kei and Tadashi had elected to stay, but had moved to the relative safety of the empty kitchenette.  Saeko, Kinoshita, Narita and Chikara stood behind Ryuu, Noya and Asahi, audio and film equipment at the ready.  With a nod and a bit of prodding from Noya, Ryuu and the others placed their hands on the Planchette.

"We’re looking to contact one Futakuchi Kenji," Ryuu said.  "If there is a Futakuchi Kenji present, please say hello."

"This seems oddly familiar," Suga muttered to Daichi.

Daichi nodded in agreement as Ryuu tried again, "If Futakuchi Kenji is present, please say hello."

The room fell silent.  The Planchette remained immobile and Asahi let out a sigh of relief, "Guess he's not particularly chatty-."

No sooner had Asahi said that, the Planchette began to move.  Asahi jumped, but his hands never once left the Planchette as it began to move around the board.

"F," Ryuu said.  "U.  C.  K.  O. F. F."

"Fuck off?" Suga read out, and that was all the warning the group got.

The overhead light bulb shattered, plunging the group into darkness.  Before anyone had the chance to do more than scream, they were all thrown backwards.  Daichi and Suga collided with the wall with enough force to knock the breath from their lungs.  Saeko and the production team landed in a heap a few feet away while Noya and Asahi were lifted into the air and were left hanging there.  Kei swore loudly as a camera was sent flying towards Tadashi.  He tackled his boyfriend to the ground as the camera smashed into the wall a few inches from where Tadashi had been standing.

"RYUU DO SOMETHING," Saeko yelled from her spot on the floor.

"DUDE SAY GOODBYE TO IT," Noya screamed.

Ryuu, who had been pinned to the floor by an unseen force, grunted in response.  He forced his way into an upright position, only to be pushed onto his front by what he could only assume was the ghost.  He strained against the pressure shoving his face into the floor and reached an arm out towards the Ouija board.

"Go faster!" Asahi shouted as he and Noya struggled to reach the floor.

"I'm trying!" Ryuu shouted back.  He strained forward and his hand brushed against the Planchette.  With a shout, he surged forward and forced the Planchette towards "Goodbye".  The moment the Planchette touched the word, everything stopped.  Time froze for a moment, and then exploded back into movement.  Asahi and Noya dropped to the floor like two marionettes cut from their strings.  The rest of the team slumped in relief.  They were safe.  The world slowly came back to them.  Daichi groaned in pain and turned to look at Suga.  He gave Suga a once over and almost cried in relief; he wasn't hurt.

"Are you okay?" Daichi asked.

"Will be," Suga replied.  "Definitely gonna feel that tomorrow though.   Did we get that on camera?"

"I think so," Chikara responded from where he was still lying face down on the floor.

"I am never touching one of those again," Asahi groaned.

"I don't blame- What's that noise?" Kinoshita asked.

A phone was ringing.  Daichi's phone was ringing.  Daichi hadn't even realized that it had fallen out of his pocket when he got thrown.  Daichi gingerly got to his feet and crossed the room.  He made it to the phone just before it stopped ringing and accepted the call.  He put it on speaker phone as everyone else got to their feet and said, "Hello?"

Moniwa's voice came through the phone's speaker, "Is this Sawamura?"

The crew exchanged surprised looks as Daichi took the phone off speaker and pressed it to his ear.  "This is Daichi," he said.

There was a long, drawn out sigh on the other end.  "Aone and I talked things over," Moniwa began, "and we came to an agreement.  We believe you.  We want to help.  We're on our way over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually own a copy of the Encyclopedia of Scary Things. I did in fact get it from the clearance bin at work.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moniwa and Aone have a long overdue reunion with Futakuchi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back folks! I am super excited to have this done and posted. Just in time for Suga's birthday too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST BOY! Without too much preamble, the last couple of months have been super busy, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to post. But I recently left my old job and while I wait on interviews and the like, I'm here to provide you, my dear readers, with that overly specific au content. As always, thank you again to everyone who has commented, kudos'd and subscribed. You rock! And now, chapter 5!

**_[After a few moments of blur, the camera focuses on the Tanaka siblings, who seem to be in the middle of a heated, whispered argument.  Above the sounds of the camera being tinkered with, some of the argument can be heard.]_ **

**RYUU:** It worked didn't it?

 **SAEKO:** You're missing the point here.  It doesn't matter if it worked, you could have died!  That camera almost wiped out that Yamaguchi kid!  I don't even want to think about what almost happened to Yuu and Azumane!

 **RYUU:** Will you relax?  I stopped it before anything actually happened!

 **SAEKO:** Again, you're missing the point here!  You're not-.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** I think this camera's okay.

**_[The siblings jump a bit, looking at the camera, then back at each other.]_ **

**DAICHI: [Off screen]:** Well, that's one useable camera.  Let's check on the one in the kitchen.

 **CHIKARA: [Off screen]:** Sure, but I don't have a whole lot of hope for that one.

**_[Saeko glares at Ryuu, who returns her glare with a smug grin.]_ **

**SAEKO:** This conversation isn't over Ryuu.

***

After salvaging what they could from the disaster that was Futakuchi's apartment, the team regrouped in Tadashi and Kei's living room.  The couple was perched on the edge of their couch and Daichi was quickly learning that Kei's angry face was scarier than he'd predicted it would be.  Similarly, Asahi and Noya were wrapped around each other on the floor, the smaller man silent for once.  Even Suga seemed at a loss for words.  They'd yet to discuss what exactly had happened, and what the repercussions would be if they tried again. 

After an uncomfortably long while, Chikara gave a small cough and cleared his throat, "Moniwa and Aone are going to be here any minute.  We should probably come up with a game plan."

Daichi nodded in response, but before he could speak, Kei cut in.  "Oh, so you're actually going to come up with a plan this time?  You're not going to just say 'Fuck it' and let the Wonder Duo over there improvise a séance?" 

The group as a collective whole winced at Kei's sharp words, but couldn't find a counterargument.  Chikara opened his mouth to say something, but Kei wasn't done.  "We were under the impression that you knew what you'd be doing.  If we had known that you were a group of amateurs we wouldn't have bothered."

"You knew we were amateurs though," Asahi pointed out from his spot on the floor.  "We didn't exactly fool you into thinking we weren't."

"Yeah, and you hired us anyway," Noya added when Kei turned to glare at Asahi.

Kei turned his steely gaze towards Noya.  "Yeah, we did.  To help us get rid of it," Kei replied.  "All you've managed to do is piss it off and almost kill my boyfriend."

"Who said anything about us getting rid of it?" Noya asked, getting to his feet.  "Yamaguchi asked us to come investigate the apartment, that's it.  We never said anything about getting rid of the ghost."

"I'm sorry, isn't that what your specialty is?" Kei pressed, also rising and towering over Noya.

"Tsukki," Tadashi said, "that's enough-."

"Our specialty is _investigation_ ," Suga chimed in from the corner.  "We're the Ghost _Finders_.  Not the Ghostbusters."

"Oh, you found it alright," Kei snapped at him.  "Now do something about it."

"Enough!" Daichi shouted, getting to his feet.  "You're right, Kei.  I admit, we fucked up.  We shouldn't have used the Ouija board.  That was my decision to make and I made the wrong call.  I didn't think that what happened would happen, I'll own up to that.  But you need to realize that you knew exactly what you were getting into when you asked us to help you.  You knew we were amateurs.  You knew we weren't going to get rid of it.  We have no way of doing that.  The best we can do is talk to Futakuchi and try to get him to coexist with the inhabitants of this building in peace.  That's all we can do."

Kei's glare softened marginally, which Daichi took to be a good sign.  With a sigh, Kei sat back on the couch with Tadashi.  Tadashi patted Kei's arm and leaned forward, "Kei does have a point though.  What happened down there happened, and now there's an angry spirit that might try to hurt us.  So, where do we go from here?"

"Well, Futakuchi's friends are on their way," Chikara said.  "I think the best plan is to fill them in on the situation and come up with a plan from there."

"One that doesn't involve a Ouija board," Saeko added, glaring at her brother.

"I wouldn't rule that out," Noya said.  "Maybe they can try talking with him."

"It might be worth a shot," Daichi admitted.  "Maybe they'll have better luck than we will since they were his friends."

"Are you sure about that?" Tadashi asked.

Daichi shook his head, "No, I'm not."  His phone gave off two sharp beeps  and he fished it out of pocket.  On the cracked screen was a text notification from Moniwa.  "They're here.  Everyone," Daichi said, making eye contact with Noya, Ryuu and Suga in turn, "best behavior.  We don't want to scare them off."

Suga placed a hand on his chest as if to say, 'Who, me?' while Noya and Ryuu shared a look, then turned back to Daichi with their eyes widened to give off an air of innocence.  Daichi did his best not to slam his head into the wall; they were fucked.

***

Well, Daichi hadn't been wrong.  In hindsight, Daichi probably should have given Moniwa and Aone some preparation for the hurricane that was his team of paranormal investigators.  The moment that the duo stepped into the room, the usual suspects were all over them.  Tanaka and Noya were instantly all over Aone, sizing up the large, silent man with the most intense, synchronized scrutiny that Daichi had ever seen exhibited between two people who had just met two days prior.  Aone, for his part, seemed more focused on Asahi than Noya and Ryuu.  Suga and Chikara (which was admittedly a  surprise to Daichi), having taken their research duties very seriously, pounced on Moniwa and began grilling him for details on his and Futakuchi's personal lives.  True to form, Narita and Kinoshita had the cameras and mics out and recording.  Around the time that Moniwa looked like he might actually break down, Daichi stepped in.

"Alright, that's enough," Daichi interjected.  "Let them get settled in first and introduced to everyone.  We need to debrief before we move forward."

The group backed off, allowing the two newcomers to breath.  Once Tadashi helped them settle on the now vacated couch, Daichi began a round of introductions.

"You met Saeko and Asahi already," Daichi said, pointing at the two.  "Saeko's our driver, Asahi helps Nishinoya with the audio.  Ryuu is Saeko's younger brother and a new addition to the team.  He's is our new séance expert."

Ryuu puffed up with pride a bit, shooting Saeko a smug grin.

"Suga is our researcher," Daichi continued.  "Chikara is our visuals expert.  He's also our editor and director.  And that's Narita and Kinoshita, they're from the studio."

"Wait, the studio?" Moniwa asked.

Daichi rubbed the back of his neck, mildly embarrassed.  "Yeah, we were in the process of trying to film what could be the pilot to a new paranormal investigators show when we ran into some complications."

"Complications-?" Moniwa began to ask before shaking his head.  "Okay, sure, why not.  This night can go this way I guess."

"That reminds me," Chikara said.  "We're gonna need you guys to sign some press release forms before you leave tonight."

Moniwa and Aone nodded in agreement.  They turned back to Daichi and gestured for him to continue.

"So that's the team.  I'm gonna let Suga give you some background info on what we think we're dealing with," Daichi said with a nod towards where Suga was sitting on the floor.

"So, to catch everyone up on what we're potentially dealing with here," Suga began as he cracked open his copy of _The Encyclopedia of Scary Things_ , "the spirit in Futakuchi's apartment is probably a poltergeist."

"So, not Futakuchi?" Moniwa asked.

"I never said that," Suga said.  "My highly educated guess is that sometimes ghosts that start off benevolent enough turn can turn into poltergeists."

"That's… doesn't seem educated at all," Moniwa said before noticing the title of Suga's book.  "Sorry, you said you're the researcher?"

"That I am," Suga replied proudly.

"And you use _The Encyclopedia of Scary Things_ to get your information?" Moniwa pressed.

"Sometimes, yeah."

"Is… Is that really the most credible source of information?"

"That's what I said," Daichi muttered.

Suga glanced down at the book in his lap.  He studied it for a minute before looking back at Moniwa, "I mean, considering I got it from the clearance bin, it's probably not the foremost in paranormal research.  But it's got the best title out of all the books I have, so it's my favorite."

Moniwa did not look amused.

"Well, it's probably better than when I was reading off of Wikipedia articles," Suga reasoned.  After a moment of intense eye contact with an increasingly distressed Moniwa, Suga turned to Narita.  "Can you grab the _Breverton's Phantasmagoria_ out of my bag?  It's the black and orange book."

Narita handed the boom mic to Asahi and bent to riffle though Suga's bag.  He pulled a few things out during his search, including Suga's piece which he quickly shoved it back into Suga's bag.  Daichi didn't miss Moniwa's raised eyebrow.  Once he had the book in hand, Narita tossed the it to Suga.  Suga caught it before closing the _Encyclopedia of Scary Things_ and setting it on the ground beside him.  Suga opened the book and began flipping through the pages before finally landing on the right page. 

"The German words poltern (to knock) and geist (spirit)," Suga read, "describe a phenomenon which involves strange noises and/or moving of objects.  Poltergeist activity has been reported across many cultures, and in the past it was variously blamed on the devil, demons, witches and ghosts of the dead."

"Ghosts of the dead seems a little redundant,"  Kei pointed out.

"It does," Tadashi agreed.

Suga frowned, "I didn't write it."

"Still, you probably didn't have to add that last part," Kei said.

"Will you let me finish?"

"Sorry," Tadashi mumbled, nudging Kei with his elbow when his boyfriend looked like he was about to add another snide comment.

"As I was saying," Suga continued, "common types of poltergeist activities include rains of stones, dirt and other small objects; throwing or moving of objects, including large pieces of furniture; evil smells, loud noises and shrieks.  Poltergeists are said to have caused interference in telephones and electronic equipment, and turned lights and appliances on and off.  This goes on to say that poltergeists are mischievous and sometimes malevolent, they manifest their presence by moving things, making noises, and assaulting people.  All things we've witnessed today."  Suga closed the book with a snap and set it down on top of his copy of _The Encyclopedia of Scary Things_.

"So, what happened, exactly?" Aone asked, speaking for the first time.

"Approximately two months ago, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima started noticing what could be paranormal activity in their apartment," Daichi explained.  "It started off small, light objects being moved and the like.  Then furniture started being moved and they began hearing footsteps in their apartment.  They initially thought that one of them had begun sleepwalking, but after setting up booby traps for each other, they realized it wasn't sleepwalking."

"And no one else had keys to their apartment?" Moniwa asked.

Daichi shook his head.  "We set up shop here a few days ago and our equipment picked up the footsteps.  We asked if there had been any recent deaths in the building and they told us that Futakuchi was the only one.  We guessed that it was Futakuchi based on the timeline of his death and when paranormal activity started." 

Aone and Moniwa tensed, but remained silent.  Daichi continued, "Since neither Yamaguchi nor Tsukishima knew much about Futakuchi, we talked to the landlord about going through his things to find a cell phone, which is how we got your contact information.  While Asahi, Saeko, and I met with you two, Ryuu and Noya set up a Ouija board in Futakuchi's apartment.  Once we were all present, Ryuu, Noya and Asahi attempted to make contact with Futakuchi and… Well… It went less well than expected."

"What do you mean by that?" Aone pressed.

Chikara and Daichi shared a look.  "It might just be easier to show you," Chikara said. 

After pulling it out of the bag and tinkering with it, he handed the surviving camera to Moniwa and Aone, pressing play for them.  The two watched in horrified silence, neither one turning away from the camera until the video ended.  They looked up at the assembled team, eyes wide.

"Yikes," was the first thing out of Moniwa's mouth.

"Yeah, that's kinda what we said too," Noya commented.

"I wonder why Kenji would have that violent a reaction though," Moniwa said.  "Yeah, he had his asshole moments when he was alive, but he wasn't violent."

"Maybe he underwent a personality shift when he became a ghost?" Asahi supplied, cringing slightly when Aone turned to look at him.

"How do you figure?" Moniwa asked.

Suga cut in, "Poltergeist activity is often centered around restless activity.  They're attracted to energy given off by unhappy children and teenagers, though there have also been cases of poltergeist activity related to unhappy adults."  Suga not so subtly glanced at Kei and received an annoyed eyebrow twitch in response.  Suga continued, "It's possible that after a month of being just a normal ghost and being around a lot of negative energy, he developed more poltergeist-like traits."

Moniwa thought about this for a few minutes before asking, "So, how do we fix this?"

"I'd like to maybe try again with the Ouija board," Daichi said.  Asahi let out a terrified squawking noise and Daichi turned to him, arms up in a placating gesture, "Relax Asahi, you don't have to do it again.  I'd like Moniwa and Aone to try it this time.  Maybe if Futakuchi talks to people he actually knows, we'll get better results."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Chikara asked.  "Also, will that work without Asahi and his ghost sense?"

"I'm sure Ryuu's paranormal sensitivity will be enough," Daichi said.

"My what?" Ryuu asked, caught off guard momentarily.  He quickly recovered, "I mean, yeah.  My paranormal sensitivity should be enough."

"I mean, Aone's got some paranormal sensitivity," Moniwa said.  "He told me earlier that he did."

Everyone in the room turned to look at the silent man, shock evident on their faces.  Aone shrugged in response.  "It's not as strong as his," Aone said with a gesture towards Asahi, "but it should help a bit, right?"

"In theory, it should," Daichi admitted.  "In fact, it might work better."

"Tell us what to do," Moniwa said.  "We'll do our best."

***

The moment they opened the door to Futakuchi's apartment, an intact light bulb was thrown at the team.  Noya, having the fastest reflexes, slammed the door shut just as the light bulb reached the doorframe.  He pressed his back to it, breathing heavily as the sound of shattering glass reached their ears.  Noya took a moment to catch his breath, then said, "So, I may be imagining things, but I think he's still mad."

"What do we do now?" Suga asked.

"Let's limit the amount of people we send in," Daichi said.  "We'll still send in Ryuu, Moniwa, and Aone.  Saeko, you can head back.  Chikara, you take the camera, I'll take the recording equipment.  That way Narita and Kinoshita don't have to go in." 

Kinoshita and Narita visibly relaxed.  They passed their equipment to Daichi and Chikara before they followed Saeko back to Tadashi and Kei's apartment.  Chikara and Daichi powered on the equipment and began recording.

"What about us?" Noya asked, gesturing at himself and Asahi.

"As much as I'd like you two to hang around, you're not really needed," Daichi mused.

"Oh thank God," Asahi breathed.

"We'll let you know if we need anything from you guys," Daichi said.

"Sounds good!" Noya said at the same time Asahi mumbled, "Please don't need us."  Noya gave Ryuu a quick fist bump before grabbing Asahi's hand and dragging him after the others.

 "So that leaves me then," Suga commented.  "Need me to record the responses again?"

"If you're okay with that," Daichi said.

"Of course I am!" Suga replied.  He gave Daichi a punch on the arm and a thousand watt smile, "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Daichi rubbed his arm and grinned in response, "I appreciate the can-do attitude."  Daichi turned back to the rest of the group and addressed them, "So, new plan.  We get in there and get set up as fast as we can.  Hopefully, he doesn't have anything else he can throw at us.  If he does… Well… Just duck.  Once we're set up, we'll start recording and you guys can start asking questions."

"And if he starts pulling a horror movie stunt on us?" Moniwa asked.

Daichi, who genuinely didn't have an answer for him, shrugged.  "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."

Moniwa looked terrified.  "Improv.  Okay.  Sure.  Yeah."

Aone and Suga patted him on the shoulder at the same time.  "It'll be okay," Suga reassured him.  "No one's died working with us.  Yet."

The incredulous look on Moniwa's face spoke volumes about what he thought about Suga in that moment, but before he could voice those thoughts, Daichi had gripped the door knob.

"Ready?" Daichi asked.

"No, not really," Moniwa admitted.

"Perfect, let's go," Daichi said, tugging the door open.

The group braced themselves for, well, anything really, their arms up to cover their faces and eyes squeezed shut.  They waited for a few moments for something to happen, but it seemed that Futakuchi—for now—had backed down.  Daichi, suspecting that Moniwa and Aone were the main source of Futakuchi's passivity, gestured for the pair to enter first.  They entered with caution, noting the broken glass on the floor as they went.  Ryuu followed behind, Ouija board tucked under his arm, and Suga went after.  Daichi and Chikara brought up the rear, Daichi shutting the door behind them.  The group made their way to the center of the living room, picking their way around the debris.  Ryuu sat down and set up the Ouija board once more.

"How does this work?" Moniwa asked as he and Aone sat down across from Ryuu.

 "You two are gonna hold onto the Planchette with me," Ryuu said, holding up the triangle shaped object before placing it on the board.  "We'll ask questions and Suga will record the answers.  They can be yes or no questions, or they can be open ended questions.  I need you two to keep hold of the Planchette at all times for safety reasons.  You guys can give me question suggestions and I'll ask 'em.  Ready to go?"

Moniwa and Aone nodded, placing their hands on the Planchette.  Suga pulled his notebook and pen out of his bag and flipped to a blank page.  Daichi and Chikara stood back.  With a nod of his own, Ryuu placed his hands on the Planchette.

"Would the ghost of Futakuchi Kenji please say 'hello'?" Ryuu asked, already tensed.  There was a heavy pause as everyone waited for a repeat of earlier's explosive reaction, but it never came.  Instead, the Planchette slowly moved across the board to the top right corner.  "'No'," Ryuu said.  "Wait, what do you mean, 'No'?!"

The Planchette moved away briefly before returning to the same spot.

"Yeah, that's Futakuchi alright," Moniwa said.

"Alright then smartass," Ryuu grumbled, "why don't you at least say hi to your friends."

The Planchette moved away from the corner and began to spell something out.

"I-D-O-N-T-W-A-N-N-A," Ryuu read off.  "Well why not?"

The Planchette remained still for a minute before moving again.

"A-B-A-N-D-O-N-E-D-M-E," Ryuu said with a whistle.  "Harsh."

"Wait, no!" Moniwa exclaimed.  "Kenji, we never abandoned you.  You died!  How the hell were we supposed to know that you were going to come back as a ghost?  Fuck, I didn't even think ghosts were real until tonight!  I mean, I still kind of think this is all a hoax and that another camera crew is going to pop out of somewhere and say that this is all a fucked up joke, but in the increasingly likely chance that it's not I don't think it's fair of you to say that we abandoned you!"

Midway through Moniwa's speech, the Planchette moved back up to the top right corner, moving towards and away from "No" repeatedly.

Frowning, Aone spoke, "Futakuchi, stop."  The Planchette froze.  Aone continued, "We didn't know.  There was no way for us to know.  But we're here now."

The Planchette remained still, and nothing came flying at the group, so Daichi took that to be a good sign.

"Kenji, are you feeling lonely?" Ryuu asked.

The Planchette moved to "Yes".

"So you wanted some company?"

The Planchette moved away from, then back towards "Yes".

"So because you're lonely, you started messing with the other tenants of this building?"

Again a "Yes".

"Well, that solves that mystery," Ryuu said.

"So how do we solve this?" Moniwa asked.

The Planchette remained still before moving across the board.

"M-O-V-E-I-N?" Ryuu spelled out.  "Dude."

Suga, Daichi, and Chikara all jaw dropped at the suggestion.

"Is… Is he serious?" Suga asked.

The Planchette spelled out, "D-E-A-D-S-E-R-I-O-U-S".

"Hilarious."

Moniwa spluttered a bit, "I can't just move in, my lease isn't up for another two months!"

"I could," Aone chimed in.  "If I did, you'd stop bothering the neighbors, right?"

The Planchette moved back to "Yes".

"You're serious?" Moniwa asked.  "Why are you so casual about this?  A Ouija board just asked you to move into the apartment of your dead friend and you're okay with this?"

"If it'll make Kenji's ghost happy, then sure," Aone said with a shrug.

"You realize that sounds ridiculous right?" Moniwa pressed.  "Like, that actually sounds ridiculous."

"How is that the most ridiculous thing you've heard tonight?" Suga asked.

Moniwa let out an exasperated screech.  He took his hands off the Planchette and covered his face with his hands.  Daichi almost felt sorry for the guy.  After a minute, Moniwa lowered his hands.  "This place is too far away from where I work, it'd make my commute longer," he said.

Aone shrugged, "You don't have to live here if you don't want.  You could just come visit."

"Isn't it out of the way for you too?" Moniwa asked.

"It is, but I'll manage," Aone said.

Moniwa buried his face in his hands.  He shook his head for a few seconds before looking up.  "I hope this place allows cats," he grumbled.  "Because I'm not leaving mine behind."

***

"You're all surprisingly in one piece," Kei remarked once the team was back inside his apartment.

Asahi got up and began fretting over the group, making sure that everyone was in fact unharmed.  Daichi swatted at the taller man, shooing him back towards Noya.

"What happened down there?" Tadashi asked.  "Where'd Futakuchi's friends go?"

"Well, we made contact with Futakuchi," Daichi said.

"He was every bit the smartass we thought he'd be," Ryuu added.

"We talked to him for a bit, figured out his motivations for haunting you and all that," Daichi continued.

"What were they?" Kei asked.

"He was lonely," Daichi replied.  "He said that he would stop if his friends moved in, so Moniwa and Aone are discussing the logistics of moving into his old apartment."  When no one said anything, Daichi added, "I'm serious."

Saeko and Noya began laughing hysterically.  The rest of the assembled party was not as amused.

"He almost killed us," Kei deadpanned.  "And now he's saying he'll stop if his friends move back in."

"Yup," Daichi replied.

"I hate everything that these past two months have stood for," Kei said.

"Who knows," Suga said.  "Maybe this will help him pass on."

Kei grumbled something under his breath, but didn't outright argue with Suga.  Tadashi patted him on the back and turned to the group, "Anything's better than nothing right?"

"We hope so," Asahi replied.

"So now what?" Kei asked.  "Do we pay you or something?"

"I mean, it'd be nice," Noya muttered, earning an elbow to the ribs from Saeko.

"We have to pay the landlord for the damages done to Futakuchi's apartment," Saeko reminded him.

"Besides, we couldn't ask you guys to pay us, you did us a favor," Daichi said.  "With any luck, we have enough material to make an episode.  Right Chikara?"

"I'm sure I will if I can get one or two more interviews in," Chikara said.  "And I know just the guys to ask."

***

**_[A close up of Moniwa Kaname and Aone Takanobu sitting on a couch in Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi's living room.  Moniwa looks exhausted while Aone looks content.]_ **

**DAICHI: [Off screen]:** So, can you give us some background about your relationship with the deceased?

 **KANAME:** Futakuchi Kenji has been a friend of ours since high school.  We played volleyball together.  After high school we remained close friends and after university, we ended up in the same city.  We'd meet up frequently.

 **DAICHI: [Off screen]:** What was Futakuchi like?

 **KANAME:** He was a nice guy, but he was kind of a jerk.  He liked to get a rise out of people.  But he was one of my best friends.

 **DAICHI: [Off screen]:** This question might be a bit hard to answer, so you don't have to if you don't want to.  Can you tell us how Futakuchi died?

**[Moniwa lowers his head; it is clear that this is a difficult subject for him to discuss.  Aone pats his shoulder once before looking at the camera.]**

**TAKANOBU:** We were having a party at Kenji's apartment.  He was drunk, and decided to shove a fork into his toaster to see what would happen.  It didn't end well.

 **DAICHI: [Off screen]:** Now that you've had the opportunity to talk to Futakuchi again, how are you feeling?

 **TAKANOBU:** At peace.

 **KANAME:** Yeah, at peace is a good way to describe it.

***

After watching the video, for a third time in Kiyoko's office, Daichi was starting to feel nervous.  Okay, he had already been nervous.  He may have almost puked in the hallway while he was waiting for his appointment with Kiyoko to start.  Daichi had to remind himself that, no, he wasn't Asahi, and yes, he could in fact get through this meeting before he was okay enough to walk into Kiyoko's office.  But now that he had sat and watched Chikara's finished product with Kiyoko three times, he definitely felt the nerve related nausea make a strong comeback.

"Well," Kiyoko said, pausing the video before it could begin a fourth time, "this is definitely something."

"Good something or bad something?" Daichi asked.

"Better than your last attempt, that's for sure," Kiyoko replied.  The two fell silent again, Kiyoko deep in thought while Daichi's nerves began the slow process of becoming shot.  Better was good, but was it good enough?  After a few minutes of silence, Kiyoko spoke, "So the two friends moved into the old apartment then?

"They did," Daichi affirmed.

"And you paid the landlord back for the damages?"

"We did."

Kiyoko gave a noncommittal hum.  "It's not really what I was expecting," Kiyoko sighed, and Daichi's stomach plummeted.  He dropped his head in shame, but Kiyoko clearly wasn't done, "But, it is enough of something for me to show my boss without regretting it."

Daichi almost gave himself whiplash from the speed at which he whipped his head back up.  "Really!?"

Kiyoko nodded.  "It might take us some time to review what you sent in, so you won't hear from us right away.  But I'll make sure my boss sees it."

Daichi could have kissed Kiyoko, he was so excited.  But out of professional courtesy, he restrained himself.  Instead, he got to his feet and gave her a quick bow of gratitude.  "Thank you Kiyoko!" he exclaimed, eyes shining.

"You're welcome Daichi," Kiyoko responded fondly.  "We'll be in touch."

***

"That's what she said huh?" Suga asked later that night as he and Daichi went for a bite to eat and a drink.

"That's what she said," Daichi reaffirmed.  Suga was the first person he had called once he had gotten out of his meeting.

"And now we wait," Suga commented.  "I hope we hear back from them soon.  I'd like to know if I can officially quit my day job or not."

"Well I think you should keep your day job for now anyway," Daichi suggested.  "You know, in case the paranormal investigator business isn't quite as lucrative as we think it is."

"Ooh, you're right," Suga replied.  "Good thinking."

The two fell in step together, a comfortable silence filling the space between them.  Daichi glanced at Suga out of the corner of his eye and flushed a bit.  It was now or never.

"Hey, Koushi?" Daichi asked.

"Oho, using my given name," Suga teased.  "Must be serious."

"If we do get green lit," Daichi said, "will you… Go out with me sometime?  Like, on a date?"

Suga froze in place.  He slowly turned back to Daichi, eyes wide, mouth open.  Daichi's face had never felt so hot in his entire life.  He dropped his gaze to the ground and rubbed the back of his neck.  When he looked back up, Suga's own face was crimson and he seemed to have a hard time finding words to say.

"You… You're serious," Suga managed.

Daichi scoffed, "Of course I am!  I-."  An inopportune phone call cut off whatever Daichi was about to say.  With a growl, Daichi fished the offending device out of his pocket with every intention of throwing it into traffic.  When he read the name on the cracked screen, he blanched.

"Daichi?" Suga asked.

"It's Kiyoko," Daichi whispered.  "Oh fuck, it's Kiyoko!"

"What!?" Suga all but screeched.  "I thought she said it was going to take a few days!"

"So did I!" Daichi replied.  "Oh god.  Oh god, what do I do?"

"What do you mean?!  Answer it!" Suga cried.

"You answer it!" Daichi said, passing the phone to Suga.

"Why me?  You're the one she wants to talk to!" Suga replied, passing it back.  The two kept this up until the phone had stopped ringing.  Suga glanced between the phone in his hand and Daichi.  After a moment, it pinged with a new voicemail notification.  "Unlock your phone and I'll listen to it," Suga offered.

Daichi took the phone back from Suga.  He typed in the password and wordlessly passed the phone back to Suga.  Suga pulled up Daichi's voicemail, hit play on the recording, and pressed the phone to his ear.  He listened to the message, face impassive.  Daichi's nerves were shot.  After a moment, he hung up the phone.

"Well? What'd she say?" Daichi asked.

"Looks like you owe me a date, Sawamura," Suga replied with a grin.

It took a moment for the words to process.  More than a moment, if Daichi were being completely honest.  But once they did, Daichi was through the roof.  He darted forward, lifting Suga off his feet in a strong bear hug.  Suga let out a screech as Daichi spun them around on the spot.  Once Daichi set Suga back down on his feet, he gripped Suga's shoulders.

"We did it!" Daichi exclaimed.  "Koushi, we did it!  We're green lit!  Oh my god, we're green lit.  I've gotta call the guys, I gotta call Tadashi.  Oh my god, I've gotta call my mom."

"Easy there Captain, one thing at a time," Suga chuckled.  "For now, let's go grab that bite to eat."

Daichi dropped his hands from Suga's shoulders.  Suga slipped his hand into Daichi's and led him down the street towards their previous destination.  Daichi followed behind, feeling lighter than he had in probably months.  Things were looking up for him and the rest of the Ghost Finders Incorporated team.

***

_Hi Daichi, it's Kiyoko.  I showed the video to my boss and he loved it.  We're green lighting twelve episode of Ghost Finders Incorporated.  Call me back when you can.  We look forward to working with you and your team._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every book Suga uses is in fact a book I own. Someone help me, I'm drowning in books on the supernatural.
> 
> Also, this is not the end! Stay tuned!

**Author's Note:**

> Me: "Hey, what if I MLA cite Wikipedia in a fanfiction?"  
> allihearisradiogaga: *Groans in exasperation on the other side of the dining room table*
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost


End file.
